GRID'S  EPOCH  MAKERS. 
EDITED  BY  OUPHANT 


By 

SAEATOM,  M.A. 


.  • 


V 


,U  , 


THE   WORLD'S   EPOCH-MAKERS 


EDITED    BY 

OLIPHANT   SMEATON 


The  Medici  and 
The  Italian  Renaissance 

By  Oliphant  Smeaton,  M.A. 


PREVIOUS  VOLUMES  IN  THIS  SERIES  : — 

CRANMER  AND  THE  ENGLISH   REFORMATION. 
By  A.  D.  INNES,  M.A. 

WESLEY  AND   METHODISM. 

By  F.  J.  SNELL,  M.A. 

LUTHER  AND   THE  GERMAN   REFORMATION. 
By  Prof.  T.  M.  LINDSAY,  D.D. 

BUDDHA   AND   BUDDHISM 

By  ARTHUR  LILLIE,  M.A. 

WILLIAM    HERSCHEL  AND   HIS   WORK. 

By  JAMES  SIME,  M.A.,  F.R.S.E. 

FRANCIS  AND   DOMINIC. 

By  Prof.  J.  HERKLESS,  D.D. 

SAVONAROLA. 

By  Rev.  G.  M' HARDY,  D.D. 

ANSELM  AND   HIS  WORK. 

By  Rev.  A.  C.  WELCH,  M.A.,  B.D. 

ORIGEN  AND  GREEK  PATRISTIC  THEOLOGY. 
By  Rev.  WILLIAM  FAIRWEATHER,  M.A. 

MUHAMMAD  AND   HIS   POWER. 

By    P.    DE    LACY    JOHNSTONE,    M.A., 
M.R.A.S. 

FOR  COMPLETE  LIST  SEE  END. 


THE   WORLD'S   EPOCH-MAKERS 

The  Medici  and 

The  Italian  Renaissance 


By 

Oliphant   Smeaton,  M.A. 

Author  of 

"English  Satires  and  Satirists"  "Allan  Ramsay"  "Tobias  Smollett' 
"William  Dunbar "  "Thomas  Guthrie "  etc.  etc. 


New  York.          Charles  Scribner's  Sons 
1901 


To 

THE  MEMORY  OF 

SIR  THOMAS   CLARK,  BART., 

to  whom,  as  a  publisher,  theological 
literature  owes  so  much,  and  by 
whose  work  as  citizen,  civic  adminis- 
trator, and  Christian  philanthropist, 
the  lot  of  so  many  has  been  lightened 
and  brightened,  this  vohime  is  grate- 
fully and  reverently  inscribed  by 

THE  AUTHOR. 


2040393 


PREFACE 


THOUGH  this  sketch  of  the  relations  of  the  Medici 
to  the  Renaissance  is  as  full  as  the  limits  of  the 
Series  permit,  yet  I  am  painfully  conscious  of  many 
serious  omissions,  which  under  less  stringent  exigencies 
of  space  I  should  certainly  have  supplied.  I  cannot 
lay  claim,  therefore,  to  any  completeness  of  survey 
from  either  a  historical  or  a  literary  point  of  view. 
To  secure  that  end  as  many  volumes  would  have 
been  necessary  as  here  there  are  chapters.  My  desire 
has  been  merely  to  supplement  what  I  conceived  to 
be  lacking  in  the  valuable  works  of  Symonds,  Roscoe, 
Armstrong,  and  Von  Reumont,  namely,  the  tracing 
of  that  continuity  of  aim  which  ran  through  the 
Renaissance  patronage  of  the  great  house  of  Medici 
from  the  days  of  Cosimo,  "  Pater  Patriae,"  to  those 
of  Pope  Clement  vn.  Its  members  were  one  and 
all  imbued  with  a  lofty  enthusiasm  in  the  cause  of 
culture  which  never  deserted  them  even  during  the 
darkest  winter  of  their  fortunes.  To  them  the  Re- 
naissance owed  more,  for  contributing  their  share  to 
the  realisation  of  the  aggregate  result  of  European 
culture,  than  to  any  other  of  those  public-spirited 
individuals  whose  delight  it  was  to  play  the  Mascenas 

vii 


viii  PREFACE 

during  that  period.  That  they  were  "  Epoch-Makers  " 
in  this  sense  it  has  been  my  aim  to  prove ;  whether 
I  have  succeeded  is  for  the  reader  to  judge. 

While  I  have  endeavoured,  during  the  years  devoted 
to  the  study  of  the  subject,  to  read  everything  of 
any  value  that  has  been  written  on  the  subject,  my 
obligations  are  especially  great  to  the  monumental 
works  of  Symonds  and  Roscoe.  The  former,  taken 
all  in  all,  is  still  the  most  comprehensive,  most  pro- 
found, and  most  picturesque  study  which  has  yet 
appeared  of  that  marvellous  mingling  of  sunshine  and 
shadow  characterising  the  Renaissance  epoch. 

I  had  intended  at  the  end  of  the  volume  to  have 
given  a  list  of  the  works  that  had  been  helpful 
to  me  in  my  study  of  the  subject,  for  the  convenience 
of  those  desiring  to  pursue  the  theme  further  than 
has  been  possible  here.  But  as  the  footnote  references 
are  very  full  throughout  the  volume,  to  mention  them 
a  second  time  seemed  almost  a  work  of  supererogation. 


OLIPHANT  SMEATON. 


THE  GRANGE, 
EDINBURGH,  October  1901. 


CONTENTS 


CHAP.  PAQK 

I.    INTRODUCTORY 1 

II.  THE  MEDICI — THEIR  MOTIVES  AND  THEIR  METHODS        .      18 

III.  THE   AGE    OF   COSIMO    DE'    MEDICI — THE  FLORENTINE 

FOSTER-FATHER  OF  THE  RENAISSANCE,  1389-1464      35 

Sec.  1.  Intellectual   Seedtime  —  Early   Progress   of  the 

Movement 35 

,,  2.  Progress  of  the  Renaissance  in  Florence  during 

Cosimo's  Early  Manhood  ....  44 
,,  3.  From  the  Death  of  Giovanni  (1428)  until  Cosimo's 

Exile  (1433) 57 

,,  4.  From  Cosimo's  Exile  until  the  Treaty  of  Lodi  in 

1455 76 

,,  5.  The  Closing  Decade  of  Cosimo's  Life,  1455-1464  102 

IV.  THK  AGE  OF  PIERO  DE'  MEDICI,  1419-1469— His  PERIOD 

OF  POWER,  1464-1469 123 

V.  THE    AGE    OF    LORENZO    DE'    MEDICI  (!L    MAGNIFICO), 

1449-1492 132 

Sec.  1.  Lorenzo's  Early  Years 132 

.     2.  Lorenzo's  Life  and  Labours  between  1470-1480  .     140 


x  CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

Sec.  3.  Lorenzo's  Life  and  Labours  between  1481-1492  .  157 
,,     4.  Estimate    of   Lorenzo's    Influence    on    the    Ee- 

naissance       .......  170 

,,     5.  Lorenzo's  Patronage  of  Art  and  Letters       .         .  186 

VI.  THE   AGE   OF  CARDINAL  GIOVANNI  DE'  MEDICI,  AFTER- 
WARDS POPE  LEO  x.,  1475-1521     .        .        .        .201 

Sec.  1.  Giovanni's  Life  prior  to  bis  Pontificate,  1475-1513  201 
„  2.  Tbe  Pontificate  of  Leo,  1513-1521  .  .  .222 
,,  3.  The  Humanist  Pope 234 

VII.  THE  AGE  OF  CARDINAL  GIULIO  DE'  MEDICI,  OTHER- 
WISE CLEMENT  vn.,  1478-1534  —  PERIOD  OF 
His  HITMANISTIC  INFLUENCE,  1523-1527 — CON- 
CLUSION 262 


THE  MEDICI 


AND 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 

CHAPTER   I 
INTRODUCTORY 

BY  certain  cults  of  popular  criticism  to  which  all  is 
caviare  that  does  not  savour  of  romanticism  and 
modernity,  the  Renaissance  has  been  styled  an  ex- 
hausted influence.  Only  the  most  superficial  acquaint- 
ance with  what  the  great  movement  has  really  achieved 
could  prompt  such  a  statement.  The  Renaissance,  as 
a  principle  of  intellectual  revivification,  is  as  potently 
operative  to-day,  though  under  different  forms,  as  it 
was  four  and  a  half  centuries  ago.  True,  the  flow 
of  the  currents  of  its  culture  has  now  embedded  itself 
so  deeply  in  the  character  and  idiosyncrasies  of 
humanity  as  a  whole  that  it  has  been  lost  to  sight 
when  no  longer  identified  with  the  intellectual  pro- 
gress of  some  special  nation  such  as  the  Italian  or 
the  German.  The  novelty  of  its  influence  having 
worn  off,  people  no  longer  appreciate  so  highly  that 


2  THE  MEDICI   AND 

to  which  their  attention  is  no  longer  drawn  so  un- 
mistakably. In  a  word,  the  effects  of  the  Renaissance 
are  present  with  us  under  so  many  diverse  and  distinct 
forms  that  we  are  apt  to  forget  the  source  in  con- 
templation of  the  results.  Scarce  a  new  phase  of 
thought  is  there  in  Europe  to-day,  or  a  fresh  develop- 
ment in  either  culture  or  science,  but  owes  its  genesis 
to  that  intellectual  reawakening  which  took  place 
in  the  fifteenth  century,  and  to  which  we  accord  the 
title  of  "the  Renaissance." 

To  any  careful  student  of  that  mighty  revolution, 
intellectual,  moral,  spiritual,  and  artistic,  by  which 
"  Mediaeval "  became  "  Modern "  Europe,  two  facts 
make  themselves  manifest  the  further  such  researches 
are  pushed.  These  are,  first,  that  the  Renaissance 
owed  much,  as  regards  its  inception,  its  development, 
its  characteristics,  and  finally  its  success,  to  Italian 
self-sacrifice  and  Italian  passion  for  culture ;  and, 
second,  that  pre-eminent  among  the  patrons  of  the 
"New  Learning" — and  they  were  neither  few  nor 
insignificant  —  were  the  city  of  Florence  and  the 
Florentine  Medici. 

The  aim  of  this  volume,  then,  is  to  vindicate  the 
right  of  the  great  Tuscan  "  merchant  princes  " l  to  be 
regarded,  through  their  connection  with  the  Renais- 
sance, as  "  Epoch  Makers."  Our  contention  is,  that 
had  Giovanni  de'  Medici — the  founder  of  the  greatness 

1  "Merchant  Princes" — used  here  in  its  original  signification.  The 
Medici  were  traders  and  bankers  pure  and  simple.  They  ruled 
Florence  while  appearing  to  abstain  from  all  interference  with  politics. 
They,  however,  took  care  that  all  the  leading  offices  were  held  by 
their  dependants.  Not  until  after  the  time  of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent 
did  they  begin  to  show  their  hand.  Piero,  father  of  Lorenzo,  refused 
a  Neapolitan  fief,  on  the  ground  that  he  was  "only  a  tradesman." 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  3 

of  the  family,  Cosimo  his  son,  Lorenzo  his  great 
grandson,  and  Giovanni,  afterwards  Pope  Leo  x.,  his 
great-great-grandson,  failed  to  take  the  deep  and 
absorbing  interest  they  did  in  the  movement,  it  would 
not  have  accomplished,  at  least  in  equal  degree,  that 
mission  of  the  intellectual  regeneration  of  Europe  it 
was  destined  to  achieve.  In  all  probability  it  would 
have  died  down  into  a  mere  philological  "  insect- 
study  "  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  classics,  without  effect- 
ing that  stimulation  of  life,  thought,  enterprise,  and 
ambition  from  the  Levant  to  the  shores  of  that  "  New 
World,"  whose  discovery  was  due  to  the  scientific 
principles  diffused  by  the  "  New  Learning." 1 

The  question  naturally  arises  at  this  stage,  What 
was  that  "  Renaissance  "  of  which  well-nigh  everyone 
knows  the  name,  but  so  few  the  scope  of  its  signifi- 
cation ?  Nothing  is  easier  to  define  in  that  vaguely 
general  sense  so  characteristic  of  the  sciolist,  nothing 
more  difficult  in  a  manner  calculated  to  supply  accurate 
information  to  the  truth-seeker.  The  former  type  of 
scholarship  "  labels  "  it  "  a  mere  literary  revival,"  and 
classifies  it  as  an  effect  of  the  familiar  historic  cause — 
the  fall  of  Constantinople ;  a  truer  reading  of  history 
notes  that  the  literary  revival  was  only  a  phase  of 
that  mighty  movement  which  awakened  the  spirit  of 
man  along  so  many  diverse  and  distinct  lines,  and 
that  it  was  already  well  past  its  adolescence  before  the 
Byzantine  Empire  came  to  an  end. 

What  then  was  the  "  Renaissance "  ?  It  was  the 
intellectual,  moral,  spiritual,  and  artistic  re-birth  of 
Europe  and  the  genesis  of  its  culture,  the  emancipa- 
tion also  of  the  soul  of  Western  humanity  from  the 
1  See  p.  251. 


4  THE  MEDICI  AND 

bondage  of  Scholasticism  and  of  "  Authority  "  in  ethics 
and  theology.  It  cut  the  Gordian  knot  of  the  Papal 
claim  to  be  the  arbiter  of  orthodoxy  and  the  keeper 
of  the  conscience  of  the  world,  and  it  inaugurated 
liberty  of  thought  and  of  speculation.  It  was  the 
creator  of  a  new  Ideal  of  Beauty  in  Art,  of  a  nobler 
Ideal  of  Duty  in  conduct.  It  was  the  infusion  of  the 
"  spirit  of  modernity  "  into  letters,  influenced  by  which 
men  described  things  as  they  really  were,  not  as  the 
Pope  and  his  College  of  Cardinals  sought  to  make 
them  appear.1  It  was,  in  fine,  the  rise  of  a  new 
impulse  in  literature,  of  a  new  canon  in  criticism, 
the  welling  up  of  an  enthusiastic  delight  in  freedom 
of  thought,  speech,  and  action — freedom  which  event- 
ually culminated  in  the  spiritual  emancipation  of 
the  "  Reformation,"  in  the  overleaping  of  the  time- 
honoured  boundaries  of  the  Old  World  by  the  "  Dis- 
covery of  America,"  and  in  the  revolution  wrought 
in  the  domain  of  letters  by  the  "  Invention  of 
Printing." 

Of  all  these  essential  characteristics  of  the  Renais- 
sance, Italy  supplied  the  germs.  For,  as  Symonds 
aptly  says — 

"  The  culture  which  formed  the  great  achievement  of  the 
Italian  Renaissance,  and  which  was  diffused  throughout 
Europe,  uniting  men  of  all  races  and  all  creeds  in  speculative 
and  literary  activity,  evoking  sympathies  and  stimulating 
antagonisms  upon  vital  questions  of  universal  import,  was 
necessary  for  the  evolution  of  the  world  as  we  now  know 
it.  In  many  senses  we  have  already  transcended  the  original 

1  Saintsbury,  History  of  Criticism,  vol.  i.  p.  483  ;  Pater,  Renaissance, 
chap.  i. 


THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE  5 

conditions  of  that  culture.  But  we  owe  to  it  our  spiritual 
solidarity,  our  feeling  of  intellectual  identity,  our  habit  of 
pouring  convergent  contributions  from  divers  quarters  into 
the  stock  of  indestructible  experience."  l 

The  Renaissance  was  both  a  cause  and  an  effect. 
While  it  revolutionised  Western  Europe,  it  was  itself 
the  product  of  forces  that  began  to  work  away  back 
in  the  dim  dawn  of  Grecian  culture,  when  the 
Athenian  Socrates  put  his  first  question  to  his  Sophist 
antagonists,  and  when  the  Roman  Gracchi,  three 
hundred  years  thereafter,  became  the  proto-martyrs 
in  the  cause  of  democratic  freedom.  The  Plebs,  as 
the  representatives  in  the  Republic  of  the  modern 
democracy,  had  wrested  their  freedom  from  the 
oligarchic  patricians,  only  to  see  the  State  itself  en- 
slaved by  the  ambition  of  the  Caesars.  Thereupon 
freedom  died  as  despotism  became  dominant.  To  the 
political  despotism  of  the  Caesars  succeeded  the  spiritual 
despotism  of  the  Papacy — the  Papacy  of  the  type  of 
Hildebrand  (Gregory  vii.)  and  Innocent  III.  By  these 
two  agencies  freedom  of  thought  was  stifled  for  over 
fifteen  centuries  until  the  human  will  gathered  suffi- 
cient strength  to  burst  its  bonds  and  force  its  way  into 
the  glorious  sunlight  of  intellectual  and  spiritual  liberty. 

"  The  Renaissance,"  or  that  "  Realisation  of  the 
freedom  of  the  Human  Spirit "  by  which  the  fetters 
of  Scholasticism  were  broken  away  from  the  intellect 
of  Europe,  first  became  an  influencing  factor  in  the 
development  of  the  modern  world  about  the  com- 
mencement of  the  last  quarter  of  the  fourteenth 
century — in  other  words,  about  the  time  when  Pope 
1  Renaissance  in  Italy — Italian  Literature,  vol.  v.  p.  428. 


6  THE  MEDICI  AND 

Gregory  XL  returned  from  Avignon  to  Rome  on  the 
termination  of  the  "  Babylonian  exile  of  the  Church." 
To  date  its  rise  more  definitely,  to  give  the  supposed 
year  and  day  where  it  manifested  itself — as  was  the 
custom  until  comparatively  recently,  to  ascribe  it, 
in  fine,  to  the  fall  of  Constantinople  and  the  dis- 
persion of  the  learned  Greeks  throughout  Europe, 
is,  as  we  have  said,  as  unsatisfactory  a  solution  of 
the  difficulty  as  to  attribute  American  independence 
to  the  incident  of  the  Boston  tea-ships,  or  to  assign 
the  existence  of  the  Goodwin  Sands  to  the  malign 
influence  of  Tenterden  Steeple.  The  Fall  of  Con- 
stantinople was  merely  an  "  accident "  in  the  historic 
development  of  the  Renaissance,  and  the  subsequent 
dispersion  of  the  learned  Greeks  only  a  consequent 
of  that  accident. 

While  to  deny  the  potency  of  the  influence  of  these 
Hellenic  scholars  would  be  to  shut  our  eyes  to  the 
plain  teaching  of  facts,  yet  the  most  elementary  study 
of  the  great  movement  impresses  on  the  mind  this 
circumstance,  that  for  upwards  of  sixty  years  before 
the  Byzantine  Empire  tottered  to  its  fall,  the  study 
of  Greek  had  been  prosecuted  in  Italy,  and  Hellenic 
illuminati  migrated  from  the  shores  of  the  Bosphorus 
to  the  shadow  of  Giotto's  campanile  in  Florence,  to 
the  shores  of  the  Bay  of  Naples  or  to  the  banks  of 
the  classic  Tiber.  The  Tuscan  Petrarch,  as  early  as 
1350,  urged  his  fellow-countryman  Boccaccio  to  study 
Greek,  an  advice  followed  by  the  latter,  who  enter- 
tained in  his  own  house,  to  quote  Dr.  Garnett's  pithy 
description,1  "  an  erudite  but  uncomfortable  Greek," 

1  History  of  Italian  Literature  ("Literatures  of  the  Nations  Series") 
by  R.  Garnett,  LL.D.,  London.     W.  Heinemaii. 


THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE  7 

Leontius  Pilatus,  with  whom  he  read  Homer;  while 
in  1396,  on  the  invitation  of  several  leading  Floren- 
tines, Emanuel  Chrysoloras  (of  whom  more  anon)  was 
lecturing  on  Greek  literature  and  teaching  the  language 
in  Valdarno.  Many  learned  Greeks  also  settled  in 
Europe  during  the  period  1400-1453,  induced  thereto 
by  the  rewards  held  out  to  those  capable  of  giving 
instruction  in  their  language.  Another  proof  of  the 
interest  taken  in  Hellenic  studies  long  prior  to  the 
Fall  of  Constantinople,  reaches  us  on  the  authority 
of  Poggio,  who  relates  that  while  acting  as  one  of 
the  numerous  secretaries  to  the  Roman  Curia  at  the 
Council  of  Constance  (1414-1418)  three  friends  and 
he  spent  their  spare  time  in  hunting  for  Greek  MSS. 
in  the  monasteries  of  the  district.  Some  of  the  prizes 
they  secured  were  of  priceless  value,  as  we  shall  note 
later  on  in  our  survey  when  sketching  the  life  of 
Cosimo  de'  Medici.  Then,  too,  Nicc61o  de'  Niccoli, 
Bruni,  Traversari,  Palla  degli  Strozzi,  Gianozzo 
Manetti,  Filelfo,  Aurispa,  Ciriaco,  and  other  distin- 
guished Humanists,  all  flourished,  or  at  least  had 
passed  their  prime,  prior  to  1453 ;  while  of  the  two 
greatest  teachers  of  the  age,  Vittorino  da  Feltre  and 
Guarino  da  Verona,  one  died  in  1446  aged  69,  seven 
years  before  the  fall  of  the  Eastern  Empire,  and  the 
other  at  the  age  of  90,  in  1460,  seven  years  after  it. 
The  dispersion  of  the  remaining  Greek  scholars, 
upon  the  fall  of  the  Byzantine  capital,  certainly  gave 
an  enormous  impetus  to  the  progress  of  culture,  by 
scattering  these  learned  exiles,  each  with  his  collection 
of  valuable  MSS.,  throughout  Continental  Europe,  and 
thus  rendering  the  study  of  the  classics  more  practic- 
able to  many  culture-seekers  than  before.  Further, 


8  THE  MEDICI  AND 

the  hard  pioneering  work  in  clearing  an  intellectual 
tract  suitable  for  the  reception  of  the  later  and  better 
seeds  of  culture,  had  already  been  achieved  by  Emanuel 
Chrysoloras,  by  Georgios  Trapezuntios,  by  Gemisthus 
Pletho,  by  Bessarion,  Filelfo,  Guarino,  and  Aurispa, 
with  their  coadjutors  and  immediate  successors.  Their 
work  in  breaking  up  the  soil  of  the  European 
mind,  so  long  hardened  by  the  sterilising  influence 
of  "  Scholasticism "  and  "  Authority "  in  learning,  as 
well  as  in  religion  and  morals,  has  never  been  ap- 
praised at  its  true  value.  Theirs  was  the  labour  of 
the  real  intellectual  pioneer,  and  to  their  self-sacrificing 
efforts  must  be  ascribed  the  fact  that  the  Western 
mind  was  so  well  prepared  for  the  advent  of  the 
remaining  Hellenic  scholars  into  Europe,  on  their 
"  hegira "  from  Constantinople  in  1439,  at  the  time  of 
the  pseudo-Union  between  the  Eastern  and  Western 
Churches,  and  also  after  Mohammed  II.  had  captured 
"  the  Queen  of  the  Bosphorus." 

Such  being  the  nature  of  the  Italian  Renaissance, 
such  too  the  causes  contributing  to  its  origin  and 
development,  and  such  the  approximate  epoch  of  its 
inception,  the  next  question  which  arises  is — the  place 
at  which  the  great  movement  first  made  itself  felt 
in  measure  the  most  ample;  and  further,  what  were 
the  circumstances  under  which  it  took  its  rise  ? 
Whenever  one  refers  to  the  Italian  Renaissance,  inevit- 
ably the  idea  of  sunny  Tuscany  arises  in  association 
therewith.  Other  provinces  in  the  historic  peninsula — 
Milan,  Naples,  Rome,  Ferrara,  Venice,  etc. — interested 
themselves  in  what  we  may  call  the  "  piecemeal 
encouragement "  of  the  Renaissance,  some  devoting 
themselves  more  especially  to  the  development  of 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  9 

letters,  others  to  the  fostering  of  painting  or  sculpture, 
others  to  architecture  or  to  producing  the  best  editions 
of  the  classics.  Tuscany,  however,  distinguished  her- 
self by  her  universal — or  better  by  her  all-round — 
patronage  of  the  movement ;  and  into  the  mind 
of  the  student  there  at  once  flashes  the  recollec- 
tion of  the  names  of  Tuscan  painters  and  sculptors, 
Tuscan  poets  and  historians,  Tuscan  scholars  and 
architects,  who  caught  the  subtle  Spirit  of  the  Age, 
and  left  it  impressed  on  their  work  as  at  once  a 
symbol  and  a  secret,  like  the  shadowy  elusive  smile, 
half  of  joy,  half  of  fear,  which  Leonardo  da  Vinci 
left  on  the  face  of  his  unfinished  "  Mona  Lisa," — 
a  Renaissance  heritage,  at  once  of  delight  and  of 
despair  to  his  successors. 

But  in  Tuscany,  to  quote  the  paradox  of  Politian — 
"  Florence  was  the  part  that  was  greater  than  the 
whole."  The  more  one  strives  to  arrive  at  some  true 
and  impartial  conclusion  regarding  the  part  she  played 
in  the  great  drama  of  the  Renaissance,  the  deeper 
becomes  the  conviction,  that  to  eliminate  the  Floren- 
tine element  from  the  combination  of  forces  producing 
the  result,  would  be  equivalent  to  representing  King 
Lear  with  the  title  role  excised,  or  expecting  a  watch 
to  go  with  its  mainspring  removed. 

"  Florence  was  essentially  the  city  of  intelligence 
in  modern  times.  Other  nations  have  surpassed  the 
Italians  in  their  genius,  the  quality  which  gave  a  super- 
human power  of  insight  to  Shakespeare  and  a  universal 
sympathy  to  Goethe.  But  nowhere  else  except  at 
Athens  has  the  whole  population  of  a  city  been  so  per- 
meated with  ideas  so  highly  intellectual  by  nature,  so 
keen  in  perception,  so  witty  and  so  subtle,  as  at 


io  THE  MEDICI  AND 

Florence.     The  fine  and  delicate  spirit  of  the  Italians 
existed  in  quintessence  among  the  Florentines."1 

Florence  therefore  for  many  years  was  the  main- 
spring of  the  Italian  Renaissance.  Had  space  per- 
mitted I  should  have  liked  to  trace  Florentine  history 
from  the  days  of  the  strife  between  the  Donati  and 
the  Cerchi,  otherwise  the  "  Neri "  and  "  Bianchi," 
when  the  democracy  of  Florence  took  its  rise,  down 
to  the  age  of  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  great-grandfather 
of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  noting  the  constant  con- 
flicts between  the  "  Trades,"  or  "  Arti,"  and  the  nobility, 
ending  in  the  complete  "subjugation"  of  the  latter; 
noting  the  conflicts,  also,  between  the  Guelfs  or  Pope's 
party,  which  posed  as  the  representatives  of  the 
municipal  or  popular  faction,  and  the  Ghibellines  or 
Emperor's  party,  which,  relying  for  support  upon 
the  "  Grandi "  (nobles)  preferred  an  oligarchic  to  a 
democratic  rule ;  noting,  finally,  the  manner  in  which, 
after  maintaining  her  freedom  for  so  many  centuries, 
Florence  permitted  the  chains  to  be  imperceptibly 
wound  around  her,  —  chains  which,  gilded  though 
they  were  and  concealed  under  the  most  cherished 
"forms"  of  democratic  liberty,  were  nevertheless  the 
signs  of  enslavement.  Such  a  survey,  however,  would 
be  at  variance  with  our  plan,  namely,  to  trace  the  rela- 
tion of  the  Medici  as  a  great  Florentine  family  to  the 
Renaissance.  But  the  narrative  of  their  connection 
with  the  "  New  Learning "  is  virtually  the  history  of 
Italian  Humanism  and  of  Italian  art  during  these 
epochs,  for  there  was  scarcely  a  scholar  of  note  who 
visited  the  peninsula,  or  any  native  belonging  to  its 
States  who  came  to  eminence  that  did  not,  at  some 
1  Symonds,  Renaissance  in  Italy,  vol.  i.  chap.  v.  p.  194. 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  n 

time  or  other,  partake  of  the  generous  bounty  of  the 
Medici.  To  them,  in  common  with  the  Albizzi  and 
Palla  degli  Strozzi,  was  due  the  fact  that  Florence 
came  to  be  regarded  as  the  "  eye  of  Italy,"  as  Athens 
of  old  was  styled  "  the  eye  of  Greece." 

Florence  lost  her  enjoyment  of  the  "  essence "  or 
"  principles  "  of  liberty  by  her  excessive  devotion  to  its 
"  forms."  Had  she  laid  less  stress  on  the  letter  and 
insisted  on  the  "  spirit "  of  civic  freedom  being  more 
rigorously  maintained,  she  would  not  have  fallen  so 
easy  a  victim  to  the  wiles  of  Cosimo  and  Lorenzo  de' 
Medici.  She  was  assailed  at  her  weakest  point.  The 
virtue  which  in  days  gone  by  had  been  her  strength 
now  proved  her  weakness.  Regarding  this,  Roscoe 
aptly  says — 

"  The  great  degree  of  freedom  enjoyed  by  the  citizens  of 
Florence  had  the  most  favourable  effects  on  their  character 
and  gave  them  a  decided  superiority  over  the  inhabitants  of 
the  rest  of  Italy.  The  popular  nature  of  the  government  not 
subjected  to  the  will  of  an  individual,  as  in  many  of  the 
surrounding  States,  nor  restricted,  like  that  of  Venice,  to  a 
particular  class,  was  a  constant  incitement  to  exertion.  Nor 
was  it  only  on  the  great  body  of  the  people  that  the  good 
effects  of  this  system  were  apparent ;  even  those  who  claimed 
the  privileges  of  ancestry  felt  the  advantages  of  a  rivalship 
which  prevented  their  sinking  into  indolence,  and  called  upon 
them  to  support  by  their  own  talents  the  rank  and  influence 
which  they  had  derived  from  those  of  their  ancestors  ...  in 
Florence.  Every  citizen  was  conversant  with,  and  might 
hope,  at  least,  to  partake  in  the  government."  l 

It  was  this  very  devotion  to  freedom  which  furnished 
the  Medici  with  the  means  of  achieving  their  plan  of 

1  Life  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  by  W.  Roscoe. 


12  THE  MEDICI  AND 

national  enslavement.     This  point  is  admirably  stated 
by  Symonds — 

"  Cosmo  de'  Medici  succeeded  in  rendering  his  family 
necessary  to  the  State  of  Florence.  He  contrived  so  to  com- 
plicate the  public  finances  with  his  own  banking  business, 
and  so  to  bind  the  leading  burghers  to  himself  by  various 
obligations,  that,  while  he  in  no  way  affected  the  style  of  a 
despot,  Florence  belonged  to  his  house  more  surely  than 
Bologna  to  the  Bentivogli.  For  the  continuation  of  this 
authority,  based  on  intrigue  and  cemented  by  corruption,  it 
was  absolutely  needful  that  the  spirit  of  Cosmo  should  survive 
in  his  successors.  A  single  false  move,  by  unmasking  the 
tyranny  so  carefully  veiled,  by  offending  the  republican 
vanities  of  the  Florentines,  or  by  employing  force  where 
everything  had  hitherto  been  gained  by  craft,  would  at  this 
epoch  have  destroyed  the  prospects  of  the  Medicean  family. 
.  .  .  The  roots  of  the  Medici  clung  to  no  part  of  Florence  in 
particular.  They  seemed  superficial,  yet  they  crept  beneath 
the  ground  in  all  directions.  Intertwined  as  they  were  with 
every  interest  both  public  and  private  in  the  city,  to  cut  them 
out  implied  the  excision  of  some  vital  member." 1 

Yet  despite  this  we  must  admit  that  all  that  was 
truly  great  or  noble  in  the  Italy  of  the  Renaissance 
found  its  familiar  home  in  Florence,  where  the  spirit 
of  freedom,  if  only  an  idea,  still  ruled,  where  the  popu- 
lace was  still  capable  of  being  stirred  to  supersensual 
enthusiasm,  and  "  where  the  flame  of  the  modern 
intellect  burned  with  its  purest,  whitest  lustre." 

Florence  owed  much  of  what  she  was  able  to  achieve 
in  the  cause  of  the  Renaissance  to  the  influence  con- 
ferred on  her  by  her  geographical  position.  Situate 
as  she  was  in  close  proximity  to  the  great  arterial 
1  The  Renaissance,  vol.  ii.  p.  226.  Cf.  also  Pater,  Renaissance,  chap.  i. 


THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE          13 

thoroughfares  of  commerce  that  ramified  all  through 
Europe,  and  along  which  merchants  from  all  countries 
were  perpetually  passing,  Florence  gradually  became 
one  of  the  chief  emporiums  of  the  world.  Her  citizens 
were  merchants  first  and  politicians  next,  and  much  of 
the  sturdy  liberty-loving  character  of  the  inhabitants 
was  due  to  the  fact  that  civic  freedom  was  essential  to 
the  prosecution  of  most  of  the  great  commercial  coups 
for  which  its  traders  were  famous.  The  Medici,  even 
at  the  time  when  they  were  riveting  the  political 
chains  most  securely  upon  the  rights  of  the  people, 
were  unwearied  in  their  eulogies  of  the  liberty-loving 
character  of  the  citizens.  They  had  thoroughly 
gauged  the  difference  between  freedom  in  theory  and 
freedom  in  fact.  "  Let  them  vaunt  themselves  free  as 
long  as  they  please,"  said  Cosimo,  "  the  Father  of  his 
Country,"  to  his  sons  Piero  and  Giovanni,  "provided 
we  have  control  over  them  in  fact  by  controlling  the 
borse"  This  view  his  greater  grandson  also  main- 
tained. Lorenzo  the  Magnificent  addressed  the  Floren- 
tines as  his  "  fellow-citizens "  at  the  very  time  when 
the  last  shreds  of  civic  freedom  were  disappearing. 

Again,  if  Florence  were  regarded  as  the  "mainspring" 
of  the  Italian  Renaissance,  she  may  also  be  styled  its 
"  nurse."  No  one  can  understand  the  Renaissance 
aright  who  does  not  realise  that  it  was  almost  as  much 
a  "  re-birth  "  as  it  was  a  "  new  birth," — in  other  words, 
a  revivification  of  what  had  already  existed  in  the  past. 
The  forces  it  released  from  the  deathlike  slumber  of 
Medievalism  were  world-old  as  regards  their  inception. 
In  the  Hebrew  theocracy,  among  the  manifold  polities 
of  Greece,  even  amid  the  militarism  of  Rome,  Republican 
or  Imperial,  can  be  noted  the  same  passionate  longing 


I4  THE  MEDICI  AND 

after  an  Ideal  of  Beauty,  the  same  supreme  desire  after 
a  reconciliation  between  Moral  Precept  and  individual 
Ethical  practice,  the  same  eager  insistence  upon  what 
may  be  called  the  Elemental  Verities  of  the  spiritual 
world  —  God,  human  destiny,  and  the  mysterious 
existence  of  evil — as  obtained  prominence  during  the 
Platonic  "  revival "  under  Gemisthus  Pletho  and 
Marsilio  Ficino.  Visible  equally  in  the  penitential 
Psalms  and  in  the  awful  thunders  of  pre-Exilic 
prophecy,  written  as  though  in  letters  of  fire  against 
the  deep  moral  background  of  Greek  tragedy,  and 
starting  out  into  as  unmistakable  prominence  amid  the 
bright  optimism  of  Virgil  and  Horace  as  amid  the 
despairing  pessimism  of  Juvenal  and  Persius,  is  an 
ineradicable  conviction  in  the  existence  of  a  nobler 
destiny  for  man  than  any  to  which  he  had  yet  attained. 
To  the  Hebrew  it  seemed  achievable  in  what  may  be 
called  a  "  theocratic  "  monarchy  existing  for  the  glory 
of  God,  and  in  which  that  glory  would  be  sought  by  a 
national  development  along  lines  of  progress  strictly 
spiritual  in  character.  To  the  Greek  it  revealed  itself 
as  an  insatiable  craving  after  the  realisation  of  the 
highest  type  or  ideal  of  Excellence,  artistic,  moral,  and 
intellectual ;  while  to  Rome  the  summit  of  its  destiny 
and  the  goal  of  its  endeavours  seemed  achieved  in  the 
attainment  of  world-wide  political  domination. 

All  three  "  forces  "  were  operative  in  Europe  at  the 
commencement  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Hebrew,  as 
the  language  in  which  the  older  "  oracles  of  God  "  were 
delivered  to  man,  had  always,  even  in  the  Darkest 
Ages,  been  studied  by  one  or  two  scholars l  who  sought 

1  Anselm,  Abelard,  Peter  Lombard,  and  others  all  knew  Hebrew  and 
were  influenced  by  its  study. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE          15 

the  society  of  the  Jewish  rabbis  that  they  might  learn 
from  them  the  principles  of  Old  Testament  exegesis. 
By  this  means  the  influence  of  the  Hebraic  modes  of 
thought  was  maintained  in  Europe.  The  Hellenic 
element  was  also  at  work  through  the  memories,  dim 
and  indistinct  though  they  might  be,  preserved  even 
during  the  darkest  ages,  of  the  literature,  the  archi- 
tecture, the  art,  the  philosophy — in  a  word,  of  all  that 
went  to  compose  that  Grecian  culture  whose  efflorescence 
had  been  so  glorious.  Finally,  the  Roman  element 
contributed  its  share  in  moulding,  during  the  Dark 
and  Mediaeval  Ages,  those  political,  municipal,  and 
legal  institutions  which,  having  survived  the  successive 
shocks  of  Gauls,  Goths,  and  Huns,  remained  to  supply 
to  Europe  the  basis  and  the  framework  of  its  politics 
and  its  laws. 

Earliest  of  all  Italian  cities,  and  because  earliest 
meriting  the  honour  due  to  a  pioneer,  Florence  realised 
the  importance  of  those  three  "  Old  World  "  forces.  She 
fostered  them  and  directed  them  into  those  channels 
where  their  influence  would  be  most  potent  in  fertil- 
ising the  intellectual  soil  of  Italy.  De  Lyra,  as  the 
result  of  his  visit  to  Florence  and  Rome  in  1335,  when 
Provincial  of  the  Franciscan  Order,  had  founded  a 
school  of  Hebrew  scholars  in  the  former  city,  which 
maintained  its  position  and  extended  its  reputation 
until  Oriental  studies  became  common  in  the  middle  of 
the  fifteenth  century.1  The  influence  of  the  Roman 
political  constitution  also  is  to  be  traced  in  the 
writings  of  several  of  the  older  Florentine  historians, 

1  A  Hebrew  printing  press  was  at  work  at  Reggio  as  early  as  1475, 
•while  the  whole  Hebrew  Bible  appeared  at  Soncino  in  1488.  Cf.  De 
Rossi's  Annales  Hebrceo-Tyiiographici  Sec.  xv.,  Parma,  1795. 


16  THE  MEDICI   AND 

and  many  of  the  laws  of  the  great  Tuscan  Republic 
were  based  on  those  of  Rome. 

The  classical  spirit  of  Greece,  however,  was  that 
which  appealed  with  most  force  to  the  impressionable 
Florentines.  During  900  years  that  influence  had 
been  largely  dormant,  as  far  as  Italy  and  Europe  were 
concerned,  its  place  being  usurped  by  a  pseudo-classi- 
cism which  meant  only  as  much  of  the  stream  of  classical 
culture  as  could  filter  through  the  soil-bound  sterility 
of  monkish  bigotry.  During  the  Dark  and  Middle 
Ages  true  Hellenic  culture,  like  the  Seven  Sleepers, 
was  in  its  cave  slumbering  unremembered.  Scholasti- 
cism, which  in  its  tendency  was  really  in  many  respects 
anti-classical,  dominated  all  the  existing  departments 
of  letters  and  crushed  out  every  semblance  of  freedom 
of  judgment. 

But  the  hour  of  the  reawakening  of  the  spirit  of 
Italian  culture  had  come.  When  the  two  electric 
currents  met  —  that  of  the  native  Latin  learning 
which,  imperfect  though  it  was  in  principles  and 
methods,  had  lingered  on  in  forgotten  corners  through- 
out the  centuries,  and  that  of  the  semi-pagan  culture 
of  Byzantium  which  idealised  Socrates  equally  with 
Christ,  and  engrafted  the  Platonic  philosophy  on  the 
Christian  stock — then  the  reawakening  of  the  Western 
mind  took  place,  the  reawakening  which  broke  the 
lethargy  of  Medievalism  and  permitted  modern  Europe 
to  escape  from  the  slumber  that  was  synonymous  with 
intellectual  death. 

Florence  was  the  earliest  scene  of  this  mighty  "  re- 
awakening "  or  "  re-birth."  Neither  title  is  inappro- 
priate to  describe  the  great  movement,  inasmuch  as 
the  change  effected  in  the  mind  of  Europe  by  the 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE          17 

Renaissance  was  so  radical  as  to  savour  more  of  a  re- 
birth than  a  'reawakening.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
is  a  continuity  to  be  traced  throughout  which  renders 
the  Europe  of  Plato  and  Pindar  and  the  Europe  of 
Petrarch  and  Erasmus  practically  one  as  regards  ideals 
and  aims  of  culture. 

Petrarch  and  Boccaccio  were  the  heralds  of  that 
glorious  dawn  whereof  Manuel  Chrysoloras  was  the 
"  Morning  Star."  Under  whatever  figure  we  regard 
the  rise  of  the  movement,  one  fact  must  always  be  kept 
in  remembrance,  that  the  effects  of  the  Renaissance 
were  such  as  completely  to  revolutionise  the  intellec- 
tual life,  not  only  of  Italy  but  of  Europe.  Nor  is  this 
rhetorical  hyperbole.  Though  the  influence  of  the 
Renaissance  might  not  be  felt  in  all  places  at  the  same 
time — nay,  in  some  did  not  appear  until  much  later — 
its  effects  were  in  their  nature  the  same  in  all.  From 
Sicily  to  Scotland,  from  Spain  to  the  banks  of  Tiber, 
that  mighty  inspiration  spread  its  subtle  and  supreme 
afflatus  abroad,  not  only  expanding  the  ideas  but 
elevating  the  aspirations  of  scholars  of  all  countries 
and  all  conditions  of  life.  As  the  devout  Mussulmans, 
wherever  they  may  be,  always  turn  the  eyes  in  prayer 
towards  the  direction  in  which  they  believe  Mecca  to 
lie,  as  being  the  centre  of  the  world  to  them,  so  in  the 
stirring  decades  of  the  fifteenth  century,  during  those 
momentous  crises  in  the  history  of  culture  which 
marked  its  course,  the  eyes  of  European  scholars 
turned  eagerly  and  often  wistfully  towards  Florence — 
as  the  Orient  of  Italian  Letters. 


CHAPTER   II 
THE  MEDICI  —  THEIR  MOTIVES  AND  THEIR  METHODS 

OF  all  the  great  Florentine  families  none  have  been 
handed  down  the  epochs  of  history  crowned  more 
unanimously  with  honourable  laurels  by  the  suffrages 
of  their  fellow-citizens,  in  recognition  of  their  share  in 
promoting  the  Renaissance,  than  the  Medici.  While 
many  people  then  and  now  might  be  found  ready  to 
contest  their  right,  from  a  political  point  of  view,  to 
aught  save  execration  as  "  the  executioners  of  Floren- 
tine liberties/' l  their  services  to  the  Renaissance  cover 
a  multitude  of  sins. 

As  the  friends  of  learning  and  the  munificent  patrons 
of  culture,  the  house  of  Medici  richly  merits  remem- 
brance. Condemn  as  we  may  their  political  tyranny, 
and  few  nowadays  will  be  found  like  Roscoe  to  defend 
it,  their  name  will  be  eternally  associated  with  that 
glorious  dawn  of  modern  European  scholarship  which 
gilded  the  fifteenth  century, — a  dawn  to  which  we 
might  fittingly  apply  Wordsworth's  couplet  on  the 
French  Revolution — 

"  Bliss  was  it  in  that  dawn  to  be  alive, 
But  to  be  young  was  very  heaven." 

1  The  epithet  applied  by  Rinaldo  degli  Albizzi  to  Cosimo  de'  Medici. 

18 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE          19 

Though  recent  investigations  and  a  more  critical 
analysis  of  their  policy  have  tempered,  on  the  one  hand, 
the  indiscriminate  eulogies  of  Roscoe,1  they  have  also 
disproved  many  of  the  bitter  charges  brought  against 
them  by  Sismondi2  and  Gino  Capponi.3  That  their 
crimes  were  manifold  cannot  be  denied.  The  character 
of  even  the  best  of  them  was  all  too  frequently  stained 
with  the  vices  of  their  age,  to  a  degree  reprobated  even 
in  that  age  when  moral  squeamishness  was  not  general. 
Discounting  all  that,  however,  the  fact  remains  that 
they  were  the  agents  selected  to  promote  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Italian  Renaissance.  Strange  though 
such  a  choice  may  seem,  the  nature  and  results  of  the 
designs  of  the  Deity  are  not  to  be  gauged  by  the 
character  of  the  instruments  He  employs  to  achieve 
His  ends,  and  it  is  beyond  question  that  the  Medici 
were  not  only  utilised  as  foster-parents  of  the  Renais- 
sance, but  were  also  chosen  to  plant  the  seed  that  gave 
to  Europe  the  harvest  of  the  Reformation. 

Though  they  afterwards  attained  to  such  distinction 
as  to  intermarry  with  the  roj^al  families  of  Europe,  the 
house  of  Medici  was  not  originally  noble.  Despite  the 
fictitious  genealogies  manufactured  at  the  time  when 
Catharine  de'  Medici  was  betrothed  to  Henry  II.  of 
France — genealogies  carrying  the  origin  of  the  house 
back  to  the  time  of  Charlemagne  and  to  a  certain 
Averardo  de'  Medici,  who  for  his  valour  in  killing  a 
gigantic  plunderer,  Mugello,  that  was  devastating  the 
country,  was  permitted  to  adopt  as  his  coat  of  arms, 
the  six  palle  or  balls  which  hung  from  the  mace  of  his 

1  Life  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici. 

2  History  of  the  Italian  Republics. 

3  Storia  delta  Eepublica  di  Firenze. 


20  THE  MEDICI   AND 

antagonist  and  had  left  their  dints  on  the  victor's 
shield — the  family  may  have  been  known,  but  certainly 
were  not  in  any  sense  distinguished,  before  the  middle 
of  the  fourteenth  century. 

One  fact  alone  is  unassailable,  namely,  that  from  a  very 
early  period  in  their  history,  the  family  adopted  the 
popular  side  in  those  prolonged  conflicts,  first  between 
Guelf  and  Ghibelline,  and  later  between  the  "  Grandi," 
or  nobles,  and  the  "Arti,"  or  trade  guilds.  These 
latter,  divided  still  further  into  traders  or  masters,  and 
operatives  or  craftsmen,  were  distributed  into  seven 
Greater  and  fourteen  Lesser  Guilds,  the  most  influential 
of  all  being  the  Guild  of  the  Wool  Carders. 

In  1266  the  Signory  of  Florence  decided  that  the 
government  of  the  city  should  be  committed  entirely 
into  the  hands  of  the  "  Arti."  No  inhabitant  who  had 
not  enrolled  himself  as  a  craftsman  in  one  of  the  guilds 

o 

could  exercise  any  function  of  burghership.  To  be 
scioperato,  or  without  industry,  was  to  be  without 
power,  without  rank  or  place  of  honour  in  the  State. 

Such  an  enactment  as  this  tended  to  exclude  the 
"  Grandi,"  or  nobles,  from  all  participation  in  the 
government  of  the  commonwealth,  and  gave  rise  to 
prolonged  disturbances  and  faction  fights.  After  the 
battle  of  Campaldino  in  1283,  however,  in  which  the 
Ghibellines,  with  whom  the  "  Grandi "  had  of  course 
sided,  were  totally  defeated,  very  severe  laws  were 
passed  against  them.  Not  only  were  all  civic  rights 
taken  from  them,  but  even  the  privilege  of  residing 
within  the  walls  of  Florence  was  denied,  save  under  the 
most  oppressive  restrictions,  while  severe  penalties  were 
attached  to  any  breach  on  their  part,  of  the  laws.  Ere 
long  the  "  Grandi "  had  very  largely  enrolled  them- 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE          21 

selves  in  the  "  Guilds,"  a  course  which  resulted  in 
producing  in  the  latter  fresh  dissensions  between  what 
might  be  termed  the  "aristocratic"  and  the  "demo- 

o 

cratic"  trades,  or,  in  other  words,  the  struggle  where- 
with we  are  so  familiar  to-day,  between  "  Capital 
and  Labour,"  or  more  specifically  still,  between  "  Em- 
ployers and  Employed."  In  1378  these  dissensions 
culminated  in  the  "  Tumult  of  the  Ciompi,"  or  Wool 
Carders,  during  which  the  operatives  drove  the  Flor- 
entine Signory  from  the  Palazzo  Pubblico  (Civic 
Chambers)  and  assumed  the  government  of  the 
city. 

This  was  the  flood  in  the  tide  of  the  affairs  of  the 
house  of  Medici,  which  was  to  lead  on  to  all  their 
future  fortune.  Salvestro  de'  Medici  was  Gonfalonier 
of  Justice  when  the  tumult  occurred.  He  warmly  sup- 
ported the  operatives  in  their  demands  for  the  recog- 
nition of  their  privileges,  and,  moreover,  secured  that 
there  should  not  longer  be  any  distinction  between  the 
"  Greater  "  and  the  "  Lesser  "  guilds,  or  "  Arti,"  but  an 
equality  of  representation.  As  Armstrong l  very  truly 
remarks — 

"The  State  henceforth  should  supervise  every  department 
of  life ;  a  progressive  income-tax,  the  exclusion  of  aliens,  the 
repudiation  of  the  interest  on  State  debts — all  formed  clauses 
of  an  essentially  modern  programme.  The  guild  system  was 
shaken  to  its  foundation  by  the  conflict  between  the  Mercan- 
tile Arti  and  the  Tradesmen's  Arti — between  those  of  the 
employers  and  those  of  the  employed,  while  within  eacli 
guild  the  'prentices  took  the  lead  from  the  masters." 

1  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  mid  Florence  in  the  Fifteenth  Century,  by  E. 
Armstrong,  M.A.  ("Heroes  of  the  Nations  Series."  G.  P.  Putnam's 
Sons).  An  admirable  study  of  the  period. 


22  THE  MEDICI  AND 

When  chaos  had  worked  its  own  cure  and  order 
was  restored  the  foundations  of  Florentine  society 
were  completely  changed.  Henceforth  wealth,  and 
wealth  alone,  was  to  count  for  aught  in  achieving 
distinction  in  the  Tuscan  Republic.  The  way  was 
being  prepared  for  the  advancement  of  the  Medici  to 
supreme  power  in  the  State.  One  notable  reform 
Salvestro  succeeded  in  achieving.  He  secured  the 
abolition  of  the  "  Law  of  Ammoniti," l  which  placed 
so  dangerous  a  weapon  of  oppression  in  the  hands  of 
rulers. 

Although  Salvestro  and  his  cousin  Veri  attained  to 
high  office  in  the  Florentine  Republic,  and  were  held 
in  esteem  by  the  people,  the  person  who  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  that  greatness  his  posterity  enjoyed  for  so 
many  generations,  was  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  the  great- 
grandfather of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent.  Roscoe's  terse 
summing  up  of  his  character  and  policy  can  scarcely 
be  surpassed — 

"By  a  strict  attention  to  commerce  he  acquired  immense 
wealth :  by  his  affability,  moderation,  and  liberality  he  en- 
sured the  confidence  and  esteem  of  his  fellow-citizens.  With- 
out seeking  after  the  offices  of  the  Republic,  he  was  honoured 
with  them  all.  The  maxims  which,  uniformly  pursued,  raised 
the  house  of  Medici  to  the  splendour  which  it  afterwards  en- 
joyed are  to  be  found  in  the  charge  given  by  this  venerable 
old  man  on  his  deathbed  to  his  two  sons  Cosimo  and  Lorenzo  : 
'  I  feel '  (said  he)  '  that  I  have  lived  the  time  prescribed  me. 


1  "  Law  of  Ammoniti."  This  custom  provided  that  those  whom  the 
State  believed  to  be  plotting  against  its  liberties  should  be  "admon- 
ished" to  be  more  circumspect.  But  the  fact  of  being  "admonished" 
entailed  loss  of  civic  rights  and  exclusion  from  all  offices  of  government. 
The  nobles  used  it  freely  to  bolster  up  their  power. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE          23 

I  die  content,  leaving  you,  my  sons,  in  affluence,  in  health,  and 
in  such  a  station  that  whilst  you  follow  my  example  you  may 
live  in  your  native  place  honoured  and  respected.' " l 

Giovanni,  however,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  fol- 
lowed a  course  of  action  which,  to  the  subtle-minded 
and  ambitious  Cosimo,  would  have  been  impracticable. 
With  politics  he  rarely  meddled.  As  a  banker  pure 
and  simple  he  laid  the  foundations  of  that  colossal 
business  which  made  the  house  of  Medici,  towards 
the  close  of  Cosimo's  life,  the  bankers  of  the  world. 
Besides,  the  times  were  not  alike,  and  what  was  quite 
possible  for  a  Medici  to  do  in  the  fourteenth  century 
was  attended  by  almost  insurmountable  difficulties  in 
the  fifteenth. 

Giovanni  was  a  far-seeing  man.  Out  of  the  very 
depth  of  his  love  of  country  he  could  discern  the 
twofold  danger  threatening  her — that  from  within, 
in  the  restless  ambition  of  such  leading  families  as 
the  Albizzi,  the  Uzzani,  the  Valori,  the  Ricci,  the 
Alberti,  whose  cliques  were  constantly  playing  upon 
the  perilously  impressionable  feelings  of  the  populace, 
captivated  now  by  one  leader  and  anon  by  another; 
also,  that  ever-menacing  danger  from  without,  in  the 
jealousy  of  Florence  manifested  by  such  Italian 
States  as  Naples  and  Milan,  when  taken  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  greed  of  the  greater  Western  powers, 
whose  longing  gaze  was  even  then  beginning  to  turn 
towards  those  fertile  plains  of  Italy. 

Giovanni  was  born  about  1360.  The  precise  year 
has  always  been  in  doubt.  Cosimo,  his  first-born, 
however,  once  stated  that  his  father  had  married  com- 
1  The  dying  charge  to  his  sons  is  given  in  full  on  p.  27. 


24  THE  MEDICI   AND 

paratively  late  in  life,  and  that  he  was  over  thirty 
when  his  eldest  son  saw  the  light.  At  the  time  of 
the  "  Tumult  of  the  Ciompi,"  in  1378,  four  Florentine 
families  may  be  said  to  have  been  so  markedly  demo- 
cratic that  they  supported  the  "  Lesser  "  in  place  of  the 
"  Greater  "  Arti — the  Medici,  the  Alberti,  the  Scali,  and 
the  Ricci !  When  order  was  restored  in  1381,  and  the 
aristocratic  party  again  recovered  power,  the  Albizzi 
came  to  the  front  and  ruled  Florence  until  their 
banishment  in  1434.  Owing  to  Salvestro's  action 
the  name  of  Medici  was  abhorrent  to  these  oligarchs. 

o 

Accordingly,  in  his  earlier  years,  Giovanni  was  nearly 
ruined  by  that  system  of  unjust  assessments  and  forced 
loans  which  the  Albizzi  introduced,  but  which  the 
Medici  themselves  were  in  after  years  to  reduce  to 
the  perfection  of  a  science  when  applied  to  the  re- 
moval of  a  dangerous  antagonist.  Giovanni  recog- 
nised in  a  moment  that  nothing  save  ruin  was  to  be 
achieved  by  opposing  the  dominant  family  at  that 
particular  juncture.  Maso  degli  Albizzi  was  a  man 
of  profound  political  ability,  great  intellectual  force, 
wide  knowledge  of  his  fellow-men,  united  to  much 
affability  and  charm  of  manner.  In  many  respects 
he  was  a  man  of  scholarly  instincts,  if  not  of  actual 
acquirements,  and  he  showed  himself  from  the  first 
friendly  to  the  "  New  Learning."  The  great  lever, 
however,  wherewith  he  was  able  to  move  Florence 
at  his  will  was  his  immense  wealth,  which  he  spent 
freely  on  the  people. 

By  the  excesses  of  the  "  Ciompi  Tumult "  the  order- 
loving  section  of  the  community,  by  whom  Maso  was 
largely  supported,  had  been  seriously  alarmed.  On 
weighing  the  chances  of  a  political  career  as  the  de- 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE          25 

clared  opponent  of  Maso,  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  with  a 
prudence  as  conspicuous  as  it  was  commendable,  came 
to  the  conclusion  he  would  best  serve  the  interests  of 
his  family  by  seeming  for  the  time  to  acquiesce  in  the 
Albizzi  domination.  In  secret,  however,  he  devoted  him- 
self to  the  patient  extension  of  his  banking  business, 
already  one  of  the  most  considerable  in  Italy. 

To  this  policy  once  adopted  he  rigidly  adhered.  He 
retired  from  all  participation  in  public  affairs,  fostered 
by  every  means  in  his  power  his  financial  resources, 
and  extended  his  foreign  agencies  and  connections. 
The  Albizzi  were  not  slow  to  note  and  to  rejoice  at  the 
change.  Soon  they  ceased  to  oppress  him,  or  to  frus- 
trate his  commercial  schemes — nay,  they  even  made 
overtures  of  friendship  to  which  he  \vas  not  slow  to 
respond.  Other  opponents  to  the  oligarchs  arose  to 
fill  his  place.  Ere  long  he  became  in  a  political  sense 
— forgotten !  Meantime  he  had  married,  his  sons 
Cosimo  and  Lorenzo  were  born — the  former  in  1389, 
the  latter  in  1394,  and  he  found  new  interests,  in 
addition  to  his  banking-house,  in  his  home,  in  train- 
ing his  boys,  and  in  cultivating  his  garden  on  the 
slopes  of  the  sunny  hills  of  Fiesole. 

Giovanni  de'  Medici,  though  less  celebrated,  was  as  a 
man  little  less  remarkable  than  his  son  Cosimo.  His 
policy  towards  the  Albizzi  was  the  result  of  profound 
political  prevision.  He  recognised  that  sooner  or  later 
his  family,  if  they  were  to  fulfil  their  destiny,  must 
come  into  deadly  rivalry  with  the  dominant  oligarchs. 
But  he  also  recognised  that  wealth  had  become  the 
great  lever  in  moving  at  will  the  Florentine  State, 
and  that  the  Albizzi  were  spending  more  than  they 
could  afford  in  their  efforts  to  keep  the  supreme  power 


26  THE  MEDICI   AND 

of  the  Republic  in  their  own  hands.  Time  was  on  the 
side  of  the  Medici.  Giovanni  knew  how  to  run  a  wait- 
ing race,  and  he  was  fully  convinced  that  in  this  con- 
test at  least  the  race  would  not  be  to  the  swift,  but  to 
those  endowed  with  powers  of  endurance. 

To  record  the  political  history  of  the  Medici  family 
while  detailing  their  connection  with  the  rise  and 
development  of  the  Renaissance  would  be  a  task  quite 
outside  the  scope  of  this  work.  Henceforward,  there- 
fore, I  shall  only  touch  upon  the  political  acts  or  policy 
of  the  several  members  of  the  great  house,  in  so  far  as 
these  may  chance  to  exercise  an  influence  on  the  pro- 
gress of  the  Renaissance.  Among  them  were  to  be 
found  representatives  of  all  types  of  mind  and  will. 
Giovanni's  policy,  for  example,  was  in  marked  con- 
trast to  that  of  his  son  Cosimo  and  his  great-grandson 
Lorenzo.  He  was  a  striking  type  of  the  cast-iron 
mediaeval  or  pre-Renaissance  mind  which  rather  looked 
askance  at  the  "  New  Learning,"  because  dreading  its 
unsettling  tendency.  Giovanni  was  a  firm  believer  in 
the  gospel  of  "  Use  and  Wont."  To  him  progress  was 
abhorrent  as  savouring  of  innovation,  and  innovation, 
as  he  knew,  too  often  meant  revolution  and  a  dis- 
turbance of  business  relations. 

Yet  this  was  the  man,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  next 
chapter,  who  in  1427,  when  he  was  a  septuagenarian, 
and  beginning  to  feel  the  infirmities  of  age,  recognising 
that  the  day  of  battle  had  come  at  last,  placed  himself 
at  the  head  of  the  "  People's  Party "  in  opposition  to 
the  Albizzi,  and  demanded  a  more  equitable  system 
of  taxation  than  prevailed  at  the  time.  Largely 
owing  to  his  efforts  the  method  of  civic  assessment 
known  as  "  the  Catasto,"  whereby  the  rich  were 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE          27 

mulcted  as  well  as  the  poor,  came  into  force,1  and 
greatly  crippled  the  power  of  the  oligarchic  Albizzi. 
To  Giovanni  is  due  the  credit  of  having  been  the  first 
to  prove  that  the  Albizzi  and  their  clique  were  not 
omnipotent,  and  thus  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  vic- 
tory of  his  son  Cosimo. 

Giovanni,  as  we  have  said,  was  never  a  friend  to 
the  "  New  Learning,"  although  he  insisted  on  his  sons 
receiving  every  advantage  in  their  education  that 
might  accrue  from  it.2  Amid  all  his  democratism 
there  was  in  his  nature  a  subtle  strain  of  intellec- 
tual and  religious  conservatism,  which  preferred  the 
"  mediaeval "  and  the  "  known  "  to  the  "  modern  "  and 
the  " unknown " :  "I  am  too  old  an  oak  to  have  my 
branches  bent  in  new  directions,"  he  once  remarked, 
when  Palla  degli  Strozzi  rallied  him  over  his  lack  of 
interest  in  the  Renaissance. 

Giovanni's  life  accordingly  was  devoted  to  business. 
He  laid  the  foundations  deep  and  wide  of  that  colossal 
banking  connection  which  Cosimo  was  still  further  to 
extend.  To  him,  as  we  have  seen,  wealth  meant  power, 
and  the  resources  he  so  laboriously  accumulated  were 
of  invaluable  assistance  to  his  sons  in  their  duel  to  the 
death  with  the  Albizzi.  In  his  dying  charge  to  his 
sons  he  said — 

"  Nothing  makes  my  death  so  easy  and  quiet  to  me  as  the 
thought  that  I  have  been  so  far  from  injuring  or  disobliging 

1  Cf.  Macluavelli,  History  of  Florence,  bk.  iv. :  "  Because  in  the  Books 
of  Assessment  every  man's  goods  were  rated  "  (which  the  Florentines 
call  Accatastare).     This  imposition  was  called  Catasto. 

2  Yet  when  rebuilding  the  church  of  San  Lorenzo  he  chose  Brunel- 
leschi's  design,  in  which  all  the  qualities  of  Renaissance  architecture  are 
present  in  rich  measure. 


28  THE  MEDICI  AND 

any  person  that  I  have  done  them  all  the  good  offices  I  was 
able.  The  same  course  I  recommend  to,  you.  For  matter  of 
office  and  government,  if  you  woukl  live  happy  and  secure, 
my  advice  is  that  you  only  accept  what  the  laws  and  the 
people  confer  upon  you :  that  will  create  you  neither  envy 
nor  danger  ;  for  'tis  not  what  is  given  that  makes  men  odious, 
but  what  is  usurped,  and  you  will  always  find  a  greater 
number  of  those  who,  encroaching  upon  other  people's  in- 
terests, ruin  their  own  at  last,  and  in  the  meantime  live  in 
perpetual  disquiet.  By  these  arts,  among  so  many  factions 
and  enemies,  I  have  not  only  preserved  but  augmented  my 
reputation  in  the  city.  If  you  follow  my  example  you  may 
maintain  and  increase  yours.  But  if  neither  my  example  nor 
persuasion  can  keep  you  from  other  ways  your  ends  will  be 
no  happier  than  several  others  who  in  my  memory  have  de- 
stroyed both  themselves  and  their  families." 1 

And  Machiavelli  goes  on  to  say — 

"Not  long  after  he  died,  and  was  infinitely  lamented  by 
the  greatest  part  of  the  city,  as  indeed  his  good  qualities  de- 
served, for  he  was  charitable  to  the  height,  not  only  relieving 
such  as  asked  him,  but  preventing  the  modesty  of  such  as  he 
thought  poor,  and  supplying  them  without  it.  He  loved  all 
people :  the  good  he  commended,  the  bad  he  commiserated. 
He  sought  no  office,  and  went  through  them  all.  He  was  a 
lover  of  peace  and  an  enemy  of  war.  He  relieved  those  that 
were  in  adversity,  and  those  who  were  in  prosperity  he  as- 
sisted. He  was  no  friend  to  public  extortion,  and  yet  a  great 
augmenter  of  common  stock ;  courteous  in  all  his  employments ; 
not  very  eloquent,  but  solid  and  judicious.  His  complexion 
appeared  melancholy,  but  in  company  he  was  pleasant  and 
facetious.  He  died  rich,  especially  in  love  and  reputation." 

Verily,  he  must  have  been  no  ordinary  man  to  have 

1  Machiavelli,  History  of  Florence,  bk.  iv. 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE          29 

elicited  such  eulogy  from  Niccol5  Machiavelli,  from 
whose  pen  blame  ever  flowed  more  readily  than 
praise,  and  whose  antagonism  to  the  Medici  is  matter 
of  history. 

Cosimo  de'  Medici,  who  succeeded  his  father  in  1429 
as  "  chief  "  of  the  "  house,"  though  inheriting  some  of 
his  parent's  traits  and  adopting  several  of  his  prin- 
ciples, was  of  a  nature  essentially  different.  The 
ideals,  both  in  morals  and  politics,  followed  by  him 
were  entirely  distinct  from  those  pursued  by  Gio- 
vanni. The  bent  he  impressed  on  the  Medicean  policy 
was  not  only  "  different " ;  it  was,  ethically  speaking, 
less  straightforward.  In  fact,  had  his  devotion  to 
letters  and  to  culture  not  purified  his  aims  Cosimo 
would  probably  have  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  the 
least  noble  of  the  Italian  despots.  The  fact  that  he 
was  pledged  to  the  fostering  of  the  "  New  Learning " 
and  of  the  Renaissance  spirit  safeguarded  him  in  a 
general  way  from  the  worst  excesses  into  which  the 
oligarchs  of  his  age  were  so  apt  to  fall.  The  more 
thoroughly  the  trend  of  the  Medicean  policy  became 
known,  both  as  regards  the  Renaissance  and  popular 
institutions  as  a  whole,  the  more  difficult  it  became  for 
Cosimo  to  deviate  from  that  narrow  path  which  the 
exigencies  of  his  position  as  a  "  democratic  "  in  contra- 
distinction to  an  "  oligarchic  "  patron  of  learning  marked 
out  for  him. 

His  aim  was  not  directed  towards  raising  the  status 
of  the  family  from  that  of  Florentine  merchant  princes. 
Rather  did  he  seek  to  render  the  position  of  a  Floren- 
tine merchant  prince  of  itself  equal  to  a  patent  of 
nobility.  He  taught  his  successors  to  entertain  the 
same  views.  Only  after  Italy  had  become  the  battle- 


30  THE  MEDICI  AND 

ground  for  the  greater  European  powers,  and  when 
one  by  one  the  despots  of  the  Italian  Republics  had 
found  that  craft  and  cunning  were  no  longer  of  avail 
against  the  big  battalions  of  France  and  Spain,  did  the 
later  Medici  consent  to  destroy  the  fiction  of  free- 
dom left  to  the  Florentine  Republic,  and  to  become 
Grand  Dukes  of  Tuscany  in  place  of  unofficial  "  Chief 
Magistrates  "  of  the  city.  Strange  was  the  hold  they 
possessed  on  that  community.  To  accept  any  position, 
save  a  seat  on  the  board  of  the  "  Monte  Commune,"  or 
National  Debt  of  the  Republic,  or  at  times  a  place  on 
the  "  Dieci "  or  Council  for  controlling  Foreign  and 
Military  Affairs,  they  steadily  refused.  What  Miss 
Ewart  says  of  Cosimo  may  be  taken  as  applicable 
to  the  whole  family :  "  Cosimo  had  no  official  position 
which  could  enable  him  to  apply  effective  coercion  in 
any  branch  of  the  administration,  .  .  .  yet  throughout 
his  life  he  was  practically  absolute  in  all  matters  about 
which  he  chose  to  exert  his  authority." l 

In  a  word,  Cosimo  de'  Medici  was  the  initiator  of 
the  policy,  whereof  Lorenzo  was  the  perfecter,  which 
for  140  years,  with  but  inconsiderable  intervals,  was 
to  influence  the  relations  of  the  house  of  Medici  to 
the  Florentine  Republic.  The  dying  injunctions  of 
his  father  he  read  rather  in  the  letter  than  in  the 
spirit.  While  never  assuming  political  office,  contrary 
to  the  will  or  voice  of  the  people,  he  had  no  scruples 
about  "  assisting "  that  "  voice  "  to  come  to  a  decision 
in  accordance  with  his  interests. 

If  we  contrast  the  policy  of  the  Medici  with  that  of 
their  great  rivals  the  Albizzi,  also  a  family  warmly 

1  Cosimo  de'  Medici,  by  K.  Dorothea  Ewart.  "  Foreign  Statesmen 
Series." 


THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE          31 

favourable  to  the  Renaissance,  we  see  how  essentially 
the  two  plans  differed.  Yet  at  first  there  was  not 
much  to  choose  between  them.  During  the  last  two 
decades  of  the  fourteenth  century  and  the  first  three  of 
the  fifteenth  the  Albizzi  pursued  a  line  of  action  closely 
analogous,  in  outline  at  least,  to  that  of  their  future 
opponents.  But  their  system  was  clumsiness  itself 
compared  with  the  consummate  astuteness  of  the 
methods  practised  by  Cosimo  and  Lorenzo.  The 
Albizzi  had  neither  the  thoroughness  nor  the  patience 
indispensable  to  successful  political  plotters;  the 
Medici,  on  the  contrary,  would  wait  a  lifetime  to 
secure  a  favourable  moment  for  the  complete  realis- 
ation of  an  idea.  Witness  the  case  in  point  of  the 
substitution  of  the  Milanese  alliance  for  that  Venetian 
one  which  had  been  traditional  in  Florentine  diplomacy 
for  nearly  a  century.  As  early  as  1439  Cosimo  resolved 
on  the  change,  but  he  did  not  succeed  in  carrying  it 
into  actual  achievement  until  the  Treaty  of  Lodi  in 
1455. 

Much  of  the  popularity  of  the  Medici  in  connection 
with  the  Renaissance,  as  also  much  of  their  power  to 
influence  their  fellow-men,  arose  from  their  apt  social 
opportunism.  They  could  be  all  things  to  all  men  in 
order  to  secure  their  support.  In  this  species  of  state- 
craft Lorenzo  stood  facile  princeps.  But  it  is  to 
Cosimo  rather  than  to  Lorenzo  that  Machiavelli  pays 
the  somewhat  doubtful  compliment  of  admiration  as 
the  master-plotter  of  the  Renaissance  epoch.  His  was 
the  policy  which  made  Florence  what  it  became  in  the 
days  of  his  grandson ;  his  the  attitude  of  mind  towards 
the  Renaissance  which  all  his  family  in  turn  adopted. 
The  profound  ability  of  the  man  has  never  really  been 


32  THE  MEDICI   AND 

estimated  at  its  true  valuation.  Greater  as  an  in- 
tellectual force  though  his  grandson  Lorenzo  un- 
doubtedly was — for  Cosimo  made  pretensions  to  no 
rank  in  scholarship  beyond  the  humblest — as  a  states- 
man he  was  one  of  the  ablest  Italy  has  ever  produced. 
In  several  of  his  political  ideas  he  anticipated  the 
theories  of  later  thinkers,  notably  Mazzini  and  Cavour. 

In  nothing,  however,  was  his  keenness  of  prevision 
more  markedly  manifested  than  in  foreseeing  the  part 
the  Renaissance  was  to  play  in  Italian  politics.  He  was 
only  a  youth  when  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
"  Revival  of  Letters  "  was  not  to  be  a  provincial  but  a 
European  movement;  and  having  once  realised  that 
fact,  he  decided  to  foster  the  new  spirit  with  all  the 
powers  which  in  him  lay. 

Taking  their  cue  from  him,  his  successors  undevi- 
atingly  adopted  the  same  course.  Perhaps  this  may 
have  occasioned  the  idea  which  some  writers  have 
entertained,  that  the  work  of  Cosimo  and  Lorenzo  is 
alone  worthy  of  study  in  connection  with  the  great 
movement.  Such  a  survey  lacks  both  breadth  and 
completeness.  If  the  influence  of  the  Medici  in  pro- 
moting the  development  of  the  Renaissance  is  to  be 
correctly  estimated,  both  as  regards  its  value  and  its 
results,  we  must  allow  our  intellectual  gaze  to  sweep 
from  the  age  of  Giovanni,  the  great-grandfather  of 
Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  not  only  to  that  of  Pope 
Leo  x.,  the  son  of  the  latter,  but  even  as  far  as  the 
pontificate  of  his  nephew,  Giulio,  otherwise  Clement 
vii.  By  so  doing  we  secure  a  convenient  conspectus  of 
the  entire  relations  of  the  Medici  with  the  Renaissance, 
in  Rome  as  well  as  in  Florence.  Nor  was  the  glory  of 
the  Roman  eventide  of  Medicean  culture-patronage  so 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE          33 

very  much  less  splendid  than  its  Florentine  dawn.  If 
the  achievements  of  Bruni  and  Traversari,  of  Poliziano 
and  Ficino,  were  great,  assuredly  they  did  not  much 
surpass  those  of  Bembo  and  Sadoleto,  of  Castiglione, 
of  Aleander,  and  the  other  members  of  the  Roman 
Academy. 

What  strikes  one  most  forcibly  in  critically  studying 
this  question  is  the  continuity  as  well  as  the  uniformity 
of  the  influence  exercised  by  the  Medici.  Practically, 
Clement  VII.  was  inspired  by  the  same  aims  as  his 
great-granduncle  Cosimo  and  his  cousin  Leo,  namely, 
to  base  his  claims  to  regard  upon  his  services  to  letters, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  he  was  the  outward  and 
visible  Head  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Fate,  however, 
was  too  strong  for  him,  and  the  timid  Humanist  Pope, 
whose  province  it  should  have  been  to  comment  on 
Cicero  or  Plato,  or  to  lecture  on  the  antiquities  of 
Rome,  was  forced  into  the  arena  of  diplomacy,  for 
which  his  irresolution  and  vacillation  rendered  him  as 
unfitted  as  any  man  could  we'll  be.  Had  his  lot  been 
cast  in  less  troublous  times  he  would  have  left  his 
mark  on  his  age  as  a  learned  pontiff  whose  services  to 
letters  were  worthy  of  his  race. 

Clement,  however,  wrecked  himself  and  his  country 
by  his  instability.  He  attempted  to  play  the  role  of 
Cosimo  and  Lorenzo,  and  to  hold  the  "Balance  of 
Power  "  in  the  Italian  peninsula  in  his  own  hand.  But 
he  lacked  their  iron  determination  of  purpose,  and 
when  his  enemies  grew  too  strong  for  him,  coquetted 
now  with  Francis  I.,  now  with  the  Emperor  Charles  V. 
Before  his  election  to  the  chair  of  St.  Peter,  he  had 
said  that  if  ever  he  were  called  to  occupy  that  re- 
sponsible position  he  would  mould  his  policy  towards 
3 


34     MEDICI  AND  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 

letters  and  diplomacy  by  that  of  Cosimo  and  Lorenzo. 
To  bend  the  bow  of  Ulysses,  however,  demanded  the 
hand  of  the  hero  himself.  The  result  of  Clement's 
attempt  to  imitate  Cosimo  and  Lorenzo  in  holding  the 
"  Balance  of  Power "  in  Italy  was  to  invoke  upon  the 
Eternal  City  the  horrors  of  the  Sack  of  Rome  and  the 
consequent  extinction  of  the  Italian  Renaissance. 

The  policy  of  the  Medici,  therefore,  was  directed  to- 
wards rendering  Italy  subservient  to  Florence — in  other 
words,  to  themselves,  by  skilfully  holding  the  "  Balance 
of  Power"  between  Milan,  Venice,  Naples,  and  the 
Papacy.  The  party  favoured  by  the  Tuscan  Republic 
naturally  proved  the  stronger  when  it  had  the  Medicean 
wealth  and  political  genius  on  its  side. 


CHAPTER  III 

COSIMO  DE'  MEDICI — THE  FLORENTINE  FOSTER- 
FATHER  OF  THE  RENAISSANCE,  1389-1464 

SECTION  1. — The  Intellectual  Seedtime:  Early  Progress 
of  the  Movement 

POPES — Boniface  ix.,  1389 ;  Benedict  xin.,  Anti-pope  ;  Innocent 
vii.,  1404  ;  Gregory  xn.,  1406  ;  Alexander  v.,  1409  ;  John 
xxiii.,  1410 

GIOVANNI  DE'  MEDICI  took  care  that  his  two  sons  Cosimo 
and  Lorenzo  should  receive  the  best  educational  train- 
ing the  age  permitted.  Though  by  no  means  a  scholar, 
the  old  man  was  not  unversed  in  letters  and  art. 
Poggio  l  assures  us  he  was  an  admirer  of  Giotto's  works 
and  was  the  patron  of  Delia  Robbia,  while  he  esteemed 
Dante  as  a  man  sent  from  God  to  enlighten  the  world. 
Giovanni,  as  has  been  said,  was  a  staunch  Medieval- 
ist in  sympathies  and  cast  of  mind,  arid  therefore  was 
not  directly  associated  with  the  Renaissance  movement. 
His  own  prejudices,  however,  did  not  prevent  him 
furnishing;  his  sons  with  teachers  who  were  imbued 

O 

with  the  new  spirit  of  culture. 

From  an  early  age  Cosimo  was  brought  under  the 
influence  of  that  mysterious  glamour  cast  by  the  "  New 


1  Pogyii  Epistolse,  lib.  i.  72. 
35 


36  THE  MEDICI   AND 

Learning  "  upon  all  who  came  within  the  radius  of  its 
spell.  The  hunger  of  its  votaries  was  stimulated  by 
what  they  fed  on.  Never  did  mortal  maid  who  had 
once  tasted  the  fruits  of  Goblin  Market  long  more 
insatiably  for  the  juicy  harvest  which  "that  unknown 
orchard  bore  "  l  than  did  the  early  students  of  the  new 
culture  for  the  latest  results  of  the  researches  in  con- 
nection with  the  Renaissance.  For  us  to-day,  after 
Europe  has  had  experience  for  nearly  five  centuries 
of  the  liberalising  effects  of  classic  culture,  to  realise 
the  entrancing  delight  as  well  as  the  subtle  intoxication 
produced  in  the  minds  of  the  early  Italian  Humanists 
on  being  introduced  to  the  mighty  masterpieces  of 
Hellenic  genius,  is  next  to  impossible.  To  that  frame 
of  mind,  only  to  be  likened  to  the  wonderment  of 
children  confronted  with  some  of  the  marvels  of 
creation,  the  world  can  never  revert.  To  do  so  we 
should  have  to  pass  through  a  prior  state  of  profound 
intellectual  darkness  and  barbarism.  The  conditions 
under  which  society  is  now  constituted  preclude  the 
possibility  of  such  a  reversion.  Granted  that  in  the 
past  there  have  been  cycles  of  advanced  civilisation  and 
culture,  in  some  respects  at  least  rivalling  the  glories  of 
our  own — to  wit,  those  of  India,  China,  Egypt,  and 
Greece  —  which  were  followed  and  their  memory 
obliterated  by  succeeding  eras  of  ignorance,  such 
results  were  due  either  to  the  civilisation  not  having 
been  sufficiently  widely  diffused,  or  because  it  had  not 
penetrated  sufficiently  deep  into  the  social  texture. 

Two  safeguards   exist  among  us  to-day,  rendering 
impossible   such   a   recrudescence    of    barbarism    and 
ignorance  as  characterised  the  Dark  Ages.      These  are 
1  Goblin  Market,  by  Christina  Rossetti. 


THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE  37 

the  world-wide  diffusion  of  learning  consequent  on  the 
invention  of  printing,  whereby  four  centuries  have 
achieved  greater  intellectual  progress  than  was  accom- 
plished in  the  fifty  preceding  ones,  dating  from  the 
grey  dawn  of  Nippur  to  the  transitory  glories  of  the 
Italian  Republics ;  and,  second,  the  facility  afforded  for 
travel  and  migration  from  hemisphere  to  hemisphere 
by  the  application  of  steam  to  land  and  marine  trans- 
port. In  point  of  relative  accessibility  alone,  the  world 
has  contracted  by  at  least  twice  its  own  diameter  since 
the  days  when  the  journey  to  India  from  Continental 
Europe  occupied,  by  the  overland  caravan  route,  nearly 
a  year ;  or  when,  after  the  Cape  had  been  rounded  by 
Vasco  da  Gama,  six  months  were  regarded  as  a  mar- 
vellously rapid  trip  to  Goa. 

Cosimo  de'  Medici  was  only  in  his  eighth  year  when 
Manuel  Chrysoloras  was  induced  to  accept  the  new 
Chair  of  Greek  in  the  University  of  Florence.  It  is 
characteristic  of  the  cast  of  mind  of  Giovanni  de' 
Medici  that  he  stood  altogether  aloof  from  this  scheme. 
The  Medici  therefore  can  claim  no  share  in  the  credit 
of  introducing  the  study  of  Greek  into  Florence.  That 
was  due  to  Coluccio  Salutato,  Palla  degli  Strozzi,  and 
Niccold  Niccoli.  In  the  year  1396,  during  the  pontifi- 
cate of  Boniface  ix.,  the  Byzantine  Emperor  Palaeolo- 
gus,  even  then  sorely  pressed  by  the  Turkish  Sultan 
Bajazet,  who  had  just  defeated  the  Emperor  Sigismund 
at  Nicopolis,  sent  a  deputation  to  Europe  to  implore 
aid  against  this  common  danger.  The  deputies  were 
of  high  rank  and  fame,  namely,  Manuel,  or  Emanuel, 
Chrysoloras,  reputed  to  be  the  most  erudite  Hellenist 
of  his  age,  and  Demetrius  Kydonios,  a  recognised 
authority  on  Greek  architecture  and  art. 


38  THE  MEDICI   AND 

The  illustrious  strangers  found  they  could  effect 
little  owing  to  internal  jealousies  in  Itaty.  They 
landed  at  Venice,  but  their  reception,  although  cour- 
teous, was  sufficient  to  show  that  their  journey  had  been 
taken  in  vain.  They  were  about  to  return,  therefore, 
when  they  were  agreeably  surprised  by  the  arrival  of 
two  noble  Florentines,  Roberto  de'  Rossi  and  Giacomo 
d'Angelo  da  Scarperia,  with  greetings  from  the  Tuscan 
Republic.  Intelligence  had  just  arrived  that  for  the 
moment  the  siege  of  Constantinople  was  relaxed,  owing 
to  Bajazet's  own  dominions  being  attacked  by  his 
future  conqueror,  Tamerlane.  After  a  pleasant  meet- 
ing the  deputies  took  leave  of  the  Florentines,  when 
Scarperia  suddenly  decided  to  accompany  them  to 
Byzantium.  Roberto  de'  Rossi  therefore  returned  alone 
to  Florence,  so  filled  with  admiration  of  the  wonderful 
culture  of  Chrysoloras  that,  as  Symonds  puts  it,  "  he 
awoke  a  passionate  desire  in  Palla  degli  Strozzi  and 
Niccolo  de'  Niccoli  to  bring  the  great  Hellenist  in 
person  to  Florence." 

Their  representations  to  the  Signory  led  that  body 
to  set  apart  a  yearly  sum  of  150  golden  florins,  after- 
wards increased  to  250,  for  the  maintenance  of  a  Greek 
Chair  in  the  University.  Manuel  Chrysoloras  accepted 
the  invitation  to  be  its  occupant.  At  his  opening 
lecture,  the  enthusiasm  for  the  new  study  was  so  great 
that  the  teacher  is  said  to  have  shed  tears  of  joy  that 
after  so  many  centuries  of  neglect  the  Greek  language 
should  once  more  be  so  honoured  in  Italy.  Among 
that  audience  were  Coluccio  Salutato,  Niccolo"  de' 
Niccoli,  Palla  degli  Strozzi,  Roberto  de'  Rossi,  Poggio 
Bracciolini,  Lionardo  Bruni,  Francesco  Barbaro,  Gian- 
nozzo  Manetti,  Carlo  Marsuppini  (Aretino),  Ambrogio 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  39 

Traversari,  and  many  others  of  the  leading  scholars  in 
Florence.  Of  that  company,  in  all  likelihood,  Cosimo 
formed  one,  young  though  he  was.  The  learned 
rejoiced  that  Greek  would  now  take  its  place  beside 
Latin  as  of  old.  The  latter  language  was  well  culti- 
vated at  this  time  in  Italy,  and  particularly  in  Florence.1 
Since  Petrarch  gave  that  historic  impulse  to  the  more 
accurate  and  more  scientific  study  of  Latin,  several 
great  teachers  had  arisen,  whose  scholars  at  the  close 
of  the  fourteenth  century  were  in  the  majority  of  cases 
amongst  the  leading  citizens  in  the  States  where  they 
dwelt.  John  of  Ravenna  (Giovanni  da  Ravenna)  was 
one  of  the  first  and  the  greatest,  whose  merit  consisted, 
as  Bruni  testified,  in  his  unique  faculty  of  arousing  a 
passion  for  pure  literature,  and  especially  for  the  study 
of  Cicero.  His  pupils  numbered  amongst  them  such 
notable  Humanists  as  Francesco  Barbaro,  Filelfo,  Gua- 
rino  da  Verona  and  Vittorino  da  Feltre — the  two  great 
teachers  of  the  next  age ;  Ognibene  da  Vicenza,  Pier 
Paolo  Vergerio,  Strozzi,  Poggio,  Bruni,  Traversari,  and 
Marsuppini.  Luigi  Marsigli  was  another  early  teacher 
who  instructed  by  disputation.  That  is  to  say,  after 
his  lectures  on  Virgil,  Cicero,  and  Seneca,  he  set  forth 
a  series  of  propositions  arising  immediately  out  of  the 
topics  of  which  he  had  been  treating,  and  expected  his 
students  to  discuss  the  alternative  points  whether  the 
conclusions  he  drew  should  or  should  not  be  accepted. 
His  influence  was  very  great.  Although  but  a  monk  in 

1  See  Vespasiano,  Vite  d'Uomin-i  Illustri,  p.  271,  who  says  of  Strozzi' s 
share  in  securing  Chrysoloras  :  "There  being  in  Florence  exceeding 
good  knowledge  of  Latin  letters,  but  of  Greek  none,  he  resolved  that 
this  defect  should  be  remedied,  and  therefore  did  all  he  could  to  make 
Manuel  Chrisoloras  visit  Italy,  using  all  his  influence  thereto,  and 
paying  a  large  portion  of  the  expenses  incurred." 


40  THE  MEDICI  AND 

the  Augustinian  monastery  of  San  Spirito  in  Florence, 
students  came  to  him  from  all  parts  of  Italy.  Amongst 
his  pupils  were  Salutato,  Rossi,  Niccoli,  and  Manetti.1 

In  Latin,  Cosimo  received  tuition  from  the  best 
teachers  of  the  day.  Guarino  da  Verona  was  certainly 
his  instructor  for  a  time,  while  Coluccio  Salutato, 
Niccolo  Niccoli,  Luigi  Marsigli,  Giacomo  da  Scarperia, 
and  other  cultured  men  and  excellent  Latinists  assisted 
in  forming  his  tastes  on  many  important  points. 
Cosimo  accordingly  became  a  man  of  wide  culture  and 
great  intellectual  force,  though  never  what  could  be 
termed  a  scholar.  The  remark  which  Ficino  made 
regarding  him  affords  us  an  inkling  of  the  severe 
economisation  of  his  time  which  the  great  banker 
habitually  practised  :  "  Midas  was  not  more  sparing  of 
his  money  than  Cosimo  of  his  moments." '' 

From  boyhood  he  manifested  a  keen  delight  in  study, 
and  by  sedulously  improving  the  moments  others 
allowed  to  slip  by  unperceived  he  was  able  to  keep 
abreast  of  all  the  great  movements  of  his  epoch.  As 
early  as  the  age  of  fifteen  he  is  reported  to  have  said  : 
"  The  man  who  has  no  pleasure  in  study  has  not 
tasted  one  of  the  chief  delights  in  life."  On  one 
occasion,  says  his  biographer,  his  father  had  presented 
him  with  a  very  costly  jewel.  A  few  days  afterwards 
Giovanni  was  surprised  to  see  it  on  the  person  of  one 
of  his  son's  friends.  On  making  inquiries  he  dis- 
covered that  Cosimo  had  actually  sold  it  to  procure  a 
rare  MS.  Accordingly,  when  he  returned  home  he 
asked  his  son  for  the  ring.  The  latter,  without  a 

1  Gasparino  di  Barziza  was  another  early  teacher  of  note,  whose  forte 
lay  in  epistolary  Latinity. 
-  Epistles  of  Ficino,  i.  1. 


THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE  41 

moment's  hesitation,  proceeded  to  his  room  and,  bring- 
ing the  MS.  to  his  father,  placed  it  in  his  hands. 
"There,  father,"  he  said,  "there  is  the  jewel, — only,  I 
have  increased  its  lustre.  One  can  buy  another  ring 
any  day,  but  you  do  not  get  the  offer  of  a  MS.  like 
this  but  once  in  a  lifetime."  Needless  to  say,  the  father 
was  so  satisfied  with  this  evidence  of  his  son's  devotion 
to  learning  that  he  repurchased  the  ring  for  him. 

All  Cosimo's  instincts  therefore,  from  his  earliest 
years,  being  scholarly,  it  is  no  surprise  to  find 
that  in  after  life  his  patronage  of  Humanism  and 
Humanists  was  at  once  princely  yet  discriminating. 
Though  he  cannot  be  classed  with  either  his  grandson 
Lorenzo  or  his  great-grandson  Leo  X.,  who  were  not 
merely  patrons  of  Humanism  but  distinguished 
Humanists  themselves,  the  fact  must  be  remembered 
that  he  was  the  great  financial  genius  of  the  family, 
as  Lorenzo  was  "  the  perfect  flower  "  of  its  intellectual 
development.  Giovanni  it  was  who  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  Medicean  financial  prosperity,  strong,  broad, 
and  deep.  To  Cosimo  was  due  the  credit  of  having 
raised  by  the  force  of  his  genius  the  superstructure 
on  that  foundation  which  was  to  place  the  name  of 
the  Florentine  Medici  at  the  very  head  of  the  great 
bankers  in  the  world,  Cosimo's  achievements  in 
finance,  in  politics,  and  in  diplomacy  were  quite  as 
worthy  of  praise  in  their  own  way,  as  were  Lorenzo's 
culture  and  poetic  genius  and  Leo  the  Tenth's  encyclo- 
pedic accomplishments.  Owing  to  his  eminence  in 
finance  and  diplomacy,  we  are  apt  to  lose  sight  of 
the  fact  that  Cosimo  was  in  reality  a  man  of  great  and 
varied  culture.  Fabronius,  Ficino,  and  Politian  all  agree 
in  characterising  his  acquirements  as  much  more  than 


42  THE  MEDICI   AND 

mediocre,  in  an  epoch  when  the  standard  even  of  medio- 
crity was,  comparatively  speaking  at  least,  very  high. 

Thanks  to  the  stimulating  influence  of  Salutato, 
Cosimo  was  no  sooner  free  from  scholastic  tutelage 
than  he  threw  himself  into  the  acquisition  of  general 
culture.  Though  at  fifteen  he  had  served  in  the  Pisan 
campaign,  not  without  credit  to  himself,  his  heart  was 
never  at  home  in  the  camp.  He  was  emphatically  a 
man  of  peace.  He  therefore  returned  from  the  pomp 
and  circumstance  of  war  to  the  quiet  pursuits  of  letters. 

Cosimo  was  essentially  a  son  of  the  Renaissance, 
at  the  same  time  that  he  was  its  Florentine  foster- 
parent.  Paradoxical  though  it  may  sound,  the  state- 
ment is  no  more  than  truth.  His  whole  intellectual 
nature  wras  moulded  by  the  New  Learning,  and  the 
process  was  going  on  at  the  very  time  he  was  doing 
his  utmost  to  encourage  scholars  to  persevere  in  their 
quest  after  the  treasures  of  letters.  He  was  among 
the  earliest  of  the  younger  men  to  recognise  the  fact 
that  Humanism,  in  order  to  achieve  its  perfect  end, 
must  be  free.  As  a  young  man  all  his  efforts  were 
directed  towards  relaxing  the  hold  of  the  Church 
upon  the  keys  of  the  gates  of  knowledge.  One  of 
his  sayings  in  youth  is  recorded  in  the  letters  of 
Traversari :  "  If  St.  Peter,"  he  said,  "  is  to  keep  the 
keys  of  the  road  to  the  tree  of  knowledge  as 
well  as  those  of  the  gates  of  Heaven  and  Hell, 
from  past  experience,  nine-tenths  of  us  would  prefer 
to  go  to  Beelzebub  at  the  beginning,  in  place  of  having 
to  do  so  at  the  end."  A  remark  such  as  this,  made 
by  one  who  all  his  life  was  professedly  in  friendly 
relations  with  the  Papacy,  shows  the  contempt  enter- 
tained for  it  as  a  spiritual  force. 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE          43 

Cosimo  was  still  very  young  when  his  father,  noting 
his  ability,  and  assured  as  he  doubtless  was  by  the 
results  of  the  Pisan  campaign  that  his  son  would 
never  shine  as  a  soldier,  became  impatient  for  him 
to  enter  the  banking-house.  Cosimo  accordingly  was 
compelled  to  leave  his  books  for  the  time  being  and 
take  his  place  at  the  desk.  Thenceforward  for  some 
years  to  come,  his  studies  were  devoted  rather  to 
"  life  "  than  to  letters. 

Young  though  he  was  when  he  took  farewell  of 
his  teachers,  Cosimo  was  old  enough  to  realise  that 
the  age  of  mediaeval  Scholasticism  which  for  four 
centuries  had  prevailed  in  Europe  had  reached  its 
terminal  point,  and  that  the  hope  of  the  future  lay 
in  that  nascent  principle  in  letters  to  which  men 
had  assigned  the  somewhat  vague  designation  "  the 
New  Learning."  Although  Scholasticism  did  not  in 
reality  receive  its  deathblow  until  Reuchlin's  contro- 
versy with  Hochstraten  over  Pfefferkorn's  attacks 
on  Hebrew  literature  had  provoked  the  most  scath- 
ing of  all  the  Reformation  satires,  the  Epistolce 
Obscurorum  Virorum,  that  system  of  intellectual 
slavery  was  already  yielding  to  the  determined  attacks 
made  upon  it  by  the  early  Humanists.  Cosimo,  whose 
sympathies  were  all,  of  course,  with  the  advocates 
of  the  "  Xew  Learning,"  recognised  what  his  father, 
owing  to  his  spiritual  and  intellectual  limitations, 
failed  to  recognise,  that  the  trend  of  the  tendency 
of  the  age  in  the  direction  of  the  emancipation  of 
the  human  intellect  was  a  movement  to  be  fostered, 
not  frowned  upon.  What  the  father  deplored  the 
son  defended,  because  he  saw  in  the  emancipation  a 
new  means  of  extending  the  influence  of  his  house 


44  THE  MEDICI   AND 

over  the  great  mass  of  the  people.  The  Albizzi  were 
at  that  time  supreme  in  Florence.  They  were  carrying 
all  things  as  they  chose.  The  Medici  were  therefore 
obliged  to  conceal  their  political  sympathies  if  they 
would  live  in  peace.  Cosimo,  almost  ere  his  school- 
days were  over,  was  thus  obliged  to  learn  the 
lesson  of  political  dissimulation.  So,  too,  it  came 
to  pass  that  he  was  known  as  a  munificent 
patron  of  the  Renaissance  long  before  he  took  any 
overt  part  in  politics  calculated  to  identify  him 
with  the  interests  of  any  faction  in  the  State.  The 
study  of  Greek  was  then  taking  firm  hold  in  Florence. 
As  a  necessary  consequence  the  classical  spirit  was 
being  diffused  throughout  the  community.  Young 
and  old  were  vying  with  each  other  which  would 
show  the  greater  interest  in  Hellenic  literature.  Even 
in  the  first  decade  of  the  fifteenth  century  Coluccio 
Salutato  could  write,  "  The  man  who  does  not  profess 
to  feel,  if  he  does  not  feel  in  reality,  a  delight  in  the 
classics  is  looked  upon  as  a  sort  of  rara  avis."  Manuel 
Chrysoloras  had  done  his  work  well ;  he  had  laid  the 
foundations  of  the  love  of  Hellenic  learning  broad  and 
deep  in  the  artistic  temperament  of  the  Florentines. 

SECTION  2. — The  Progress  of  the  Renaissance  in 
Florence  during  Cosimo's  Early  Manhood 

POPES — Alexander  v.,  1409  ;  John  XXIIL,  1410  ;  Martin  v.,  1417 

Cosimo  de'  Medici  was  only  seventeen  when  he 
received  responsible  charge  of  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant departments  in  his  father's  banking-house — 
that  concerned  with  foreign  agencies  and  correspon- 
dents. No  position  could  have  been  assigned  him 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE          45 

where  he  would  find  fuller  opportunity  of  gratifying 
his  Renaissance  tastes. 

The  first  two  decades  of  the  fifteenth  century 
witnessed  a  wonderful  development  in  the  progress 
of  the  Renaissance.  Until  the  close  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  learning,  which  had  been  under  the  domin- 
ation of  Scholasticism,  had  been  largely  the  province, 
almost  the  prerogative,  of  the  clergy, — a  province  and 
a  prerogative  in  many  cases  so  jealously  guarded  that 
monkish  students,  looking  askance  at  such  an  anomaly 
as  a  lettered  layman,  began  to  sniff  for  heresy.  Italy, 
however,  accepted  the  fact  of  lay  culture  long  before 
the  rest  of  Europe,  and  Cosimo  had  no  inconsiderable 
share  in  breaking  the  fetters  which  bound  learning 
to  the  cloister.  He  was  amongst  the  first  to  realise 
the  value  of  the  studii  pubblici,  or  high-schools, 
whereby  the  people  were  enabled  to  prosecute  their 
studies  in  the  coveted  "  New  Learning,"  along  with 
those  whose  wealth  placed  the  means  in  their  own  hands. 

The  state  of  Italian  culture  during  the  first  two 
decades  of  the  fifteenth  century  may  be  summed  up 
in  a  few  words.  It  was  a  period  of  germination,  an 
era  of  intellectual  awakening.  The  dormant  genius 
of  the  Italian  race  was  arousing  itself  after  its  long 
slumber  to  a  consciousness  of  its  destiny.  Intense 
interest  was  displayed  in  all  relating  to  antiquity 
— its  literature,  its  art,  its  architecture,  its  philo- 
sophy. To  Constantinople  all  eyes  were  turned,  be- 
cause there  the  men  were  resident  whose  delight  still 
centred  in  that  language  wherein  were  enshrined 
those  literary  glories  that  were  Greece.  Since  Petrarch 
and  Boccaccio  had  first  preached  to  their  fellow-men 
the  doctrine  that  true  culture  lay  in  a  revival  of 


46  THE  MEDICI   AND 

interest  in  the  literatures  of  Greece  and  Rome,  eager 
anxiety  had  prevailed  first  to  obtain  good  Greek 
teachers,  and  next  an  adequate  supply  of  those  MSS. 
containing  the  writings  of  the  great  classic  authors. 
As  regards  the  first  desideratum,  learned  Greeks, 
as  soon  as  they  heard  that  there  was  a  demand  for 
their  services  as  teachers,  began  to  flock  over  to 
Italy,  and  Chrysoloras  was  followed  by  Gemisthus 
Pletho,1  Georgios  Trapezuntios,  Theodore  of  Gaza,  and 
many  others.  The  supply  of  Greek  MSS.  was  a  more 
difficult  problem,  and  was  only  solved  by  enthusiastic 
scholars  like  Scarperia,  Aurispa,  Filelfo,  and  Guarino 
proceeding  to  Constantinople,  whence  they  returned, 
after  learning  the  language,  laden  with  codices  where- 
with they  enlightened  all  Italy. 

To  afford  some  idea  of  the  number  of  these  price- 
less texts  introduced  into  Italy,  we  may  state  that 
Aurispa,  when  he  arrived  from  Byzantium  in  1423, 
brought  back  238  MSS.,  many  of  them  the  works 
of  authors  absolutely  unknown  at  that  time  to 
Western  scholars.  Filelfo  possessed  230  MSS.  when 
he  returned;  while  Guarino,  although  reported  to 
have  lost  a  large  part  of  his  store  by  shipwreck  on  the 
voyage  home — a  misfortune  which,  according  to  current 
tradition,  whitened  his  locks  ere  middle  life  was  reached 
— was  yet  able  to  save  over  200  of  them.2  To  most 
of  these  Cosimo  extended  help,3  with  a  generosity 

1  Gemisthus  Pletho  came  from  the  Morea,  where  he  resided,  to  take 
part  in  the  Union  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches  at  the  Council 
of  Ferrara-Florence,  and  remained  in  Italy  a  few  years  thereafter. 

2  Cf.  Didot,  Aide  Mcmucc,  and  Vespasiano's  Lives. 

3  Even  to  Filelfo,  although  that  irascible  pedant  mendaciously  denied 
it  and  would  only  admit  receiving  his  travelling  expenses  from  Lionardo 
Giustiniani. 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  47 

characteristic  of  the  time,  when  the  mere  reputation 
of  Humanistic  learning  was  sufficient  to  ensure  honours 
often  denied  to  the  nobility.  The  remarks  of  Symonds 
on  this  point  are  admirable — 

"  Considering  the  special  advantages  enjoyed  by  the  three 
scholars  who  were  pupils  of  the  learned  Manuel  Chrysol- 
oras,  and  before  whose  eager  curiosity  the  libraries  of  Byzan- 
tium remained  open  through  nearly  half  a  century  previous 
to  the  fall  of  the  Greek  Empire,  we  have  good  reason  to 
believe  that  the  greater  part  of  Attic  and  Alexandrian  literature 
known  to  the  later  Greeks  was  transferred  to  Italy." 

Nor  were  Latin  MSS.  less  eagerly  sought  for  than 
Greek.  Poggio's  herculean  labours  in  MS.  hunting 
amongst  the  convents  and  abbeys  of  St.  Gall  and  its 
neighbourhood,  when  he  was  acting  as  Papal  Secretary 
at  the  Council  of  Constance  (1414) — labours  whereof 
more  shall  be  said  anon,  but  regarding  which  we  may 
state  here  that  they  resulted  in  the  recovery  of  many 
valuable  texts,  as  those  of  Quintilian,  Tertullian,  and 
others, — these  labours,  we  repeat,  have  placed  the 
world  of  letters  under  an  everlasting  obligation  to 
him.  Other  workers  also  were  in  the  field  who  were 
little  less  indefatigable,  such  as  Nicholas  of  Treves, 
who,  after  despatching  valuable  MSS.  to  Florence,  was 
able  in  1428  to  forward  to  Rome  the  most  complete 
copy  of  Plautus  then  known.  Bartolommeo  di  Monte- 
pulciano,  working  upon  Poggio's  tracks  after  the  latter 
had  left,  succeeded  in  discovering  the  lost  writings  of 
Vegetius  and  Pompeius  Festus.  In  1409  Lionardo 
Bruni  made  a  happy  discovery  at  Pistoia  of  a  good 
MS.  of  Cicero's  Letters,  while  in  1425  Gherardo 
Landriani  unearthed  in  the  Duomo  at  Lodi,  Cicero's 


48  THE  MEDICI  AND 

rhetorical  treatises.  The  enthusiasm  over  intaglios, 
engraved  gems,  coins,  inscriptions,  marbles,  and  vases, 
which  George  Eliot,1  when  recording  the  introduction 
of  Tito  Melema  to  the  burghers  of  Florence,  describes 
as  characteristic  of  them  even  at  the  last  decade  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  was  doubly  true  in  the  opening 
decades  of  the  same  century. 

"  Never  was  there  a  time  in  the  world's  history  when 
money  was  spent  more  freely  upon  the  collection  and  pre- 
servation of  MSS.,  and  when  a  more  complete  machinery  was 
put  in  motion  for  the  sake  of  securing  library  treasures. 
Prince  vied  with  prince,  and  eminent  burgher  with  burgher 
in  buying  books.  The  commercial  correspondents  of  the 
Medici,  whose  banks  and  discount  offices  extended  over 
Europe  and  the  Levant,  were  instructed  to  purchase  relics 
of  antiquity  without  any  regard  to  cost,  and  to  forward  them 
to  Florence.  The  most  acceptable  present  that  could  be 
sent  to  a  king  was  a  copy  of  a  Roman  historian."2 

All  classes,  well-nigh  every  age  and  sex,  were  infected 
with  the  enthusiasm.  Everything  else  was  considered 
of  no  account  compared  with  the  priceless  privilege 
of  learning  Greek.  Even  the  stately  Lionardo  Bruni, 
Chancellor  of  Florence,  could  write — 

"  When  Chrysoloras  of  Byzantium  brought  Greek  learning 
to  us  I  was  at  that  time  pursuing  the  civil  law,  though  by 
no  means  neglecting  other  studies ;  for  it  was  my  nature  to 
love  learning  with  ardour,  nor  had  I  devoted  slight  pains  to 
rhetoric  and  dialectic.  Therefore  at  the  coming  of  Chry- 
soloras I  was  brought  to  a  pause  in  my  determination  regard- 
ing a  profession.  I  held  it  wrong  to  desert  law,  yet  I  reckoned 

1  Romola,  bk.  i.  chaps,  iv.  and  v. 
2Symonds,  Renaissance,  vol.  ii.  p.  101. 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  49 

it  a  crime  to  omit  so  great  an  occasion  of  learning  the  Greek 
literature ;  .  .  .  can  it  be  that  thou  wilt  desert  thyself  and 
neglect  the  opportunity  divinely  offered  thee,  I  asked  myself. 
Through  seven  hundred  years  no  one  in  all  Italy  has  been 
master  of  Greek  letters,  and  yet  we  acknowledge  that  all 
science  is  derived  from  them.  Of  civil  law,  indeed,  there  are 
in  every  city  scores  of  doctors ;  but  should  this  single  and 
unique  teacher  of  Greek  be  removed  thou  wilt  find  no  one 
to  instruct  thee.  Conquered  at  last  by  these  reasonings,  I 
delivered  myself  over  to  Chrysoloras,  with  such  passion  that 
what  I  had  received  from  him  by  day  in  hours  of  waking 
occupied  my  mind  at  night  in  hours  of  sleep." l 

The  enthusiasm  for  the  acquisition  of  culture,  which 
gradually  infected  all  Italy,  and  Florence  in  particular, 
may  be  likened  to  the  excitement  that  followed  the 
preaching  of  the  First  Crusade  by  Peter  the  Hermit. 
Men  really  accounted  all  worldly  things  as  loss  when 
compared  with  the  possession  of  that  culture  which 
promised  intellectual  riches  so  rare. 

Cosimo,  as  we  have  seen,  shared  the  enthusiasm 
almost  from  the  time  when  he  realised  what  that 
culture  actually  implied.  In  early  youth  he  was  in- 
defatigable in  its  acquisition,  and  when  in  his  twenty- 
third  year  he  engaged  on  his  own  account  in  extensive 
mercantile  and  financial  speculations  in  the  Levant, 
Africa,  Syria,  Greece,  and  Asia  Minor,  which  resulted 
in  enormous  gains  to  himself  and  the  "  house,"  he 
was  able  at  the  same  time  to  advance  the  cause  of 
the  Renaissance  by  commissioning  his  agents  and 
correspondents  to  secure  for  him  rare  MSS.,  intaglios, 
pieces  of  sculpture,  gems — in  a  word,  all  those  price- 
less memorials  of  antiquity  which  made  the  Palazzo 

1  Muratori  Collection,  vol.  xix.  p.  920. 
4 


50  THE  MEDICI  AND 

Medici  in  the  Via  Larga  and  the  Villa  Careggi,  after 
their  treasures  had  been  added  to  by  the  cultured 
taste  of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  the  boasts  of  Florence. 
Cosimo's  energies  in  those  earlier  years  were  not 
all  directed  towards  foreign  fields.  For  example,  the 
notorious  Cardinal  Balthazar  Cossa, — in  youth  a  Levan- 
tine pirate  stained  with  well-nigh  every  crime  possible 
to  humanity,  in  manhood  a  priest  because  that  station 
enabled  him  to  gratify  his  bestial  desires  with  the 
greatest  freedom,  in  age  a  Pope  with  the  title  of 
John  xxiii.,  and  as  "  Head  of  the  Church "  as  well 
as  "  God's  Vicar  on  Earth "  guilty  of  excesses  which 
shocked  even  the  loose-laced  papal  secretaries, — noting 
the  outstanding  ability  of  the  young  financier,  had 
made  him  his  private  banker.  So  well  did  Cosimo 
acquit  himself  in  this  difficult  position  that,  when 
the  Pope  was  compelled  to  attend  the  Council  of 
Constance,  he  chose  to  be  accompanied  (says  Eoscoe) 
by  Cosimo  de'  Medici,  amongst  other  men  of  eminence, 
whose  characters  might  countenance  his  cause. 

"  By  this  Council,  which  continued  in  session  nearly  four 
years,  Balthazar  was  deprived  of  his  pontifical  dignity,  and 
Otto  Colonna,  who  took  the  name  Martin  v.,  was  in  1417 
elected  Pope.  Divested  of  his  authority  and  pursued  by  his 
numerous  adversaries,  Balthazar  endeavoured  to  save  himself 
by  flight.  Cosimo  did  not  desert  in  adversity  the  man  to 
whom  he  had  attached  himself  in  prosperity.  At  the  expense 
of  a  large  sum  of  money  he  redeemed  him  from  the  hands  of 
the  Duke  of  Bavaria,  who  had  seized  on  his  person ;  and 
afterwards  gave  him  a  hospitable  shelter  at  Florence  during 
the  remainder  of  his  life." 1 

We  mention  this  fact  to  prove  that  Cosimo,  notwith- 
1  Roscoe,  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  p.  53. 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  51 

standing  his  policy  of  interested  generosity,  was  not 
above  doing  a  thoroughly  disinterested  action  out  of 
gratitude  for  the  manifold  benefits  he  had  formerly 
received  from  the  deposed  pontiff'.  He  must,  of  course, 
have  been  aware  his  conduct  would  produce  a  favour- 
able impression  on  certain  of  the  great  Italian  families 
with  whom  the  Cossas,  although  then  in  the  winter 
of  their  fortunes,  were  still  closely  allied.  Sixteen 
years  afterwards  the  bread  cast  upon  the  waters  was 
to  return  to  him.  When  exiled  from  Florence  by 
the  Albizzi  in  1433,  the  noble  Venetian  family  of 
the  Donati,  kinsmen  of  the  Cossas,  influenced  their 
State  to  offer  an  asylum  in  their  city  to  the  illustrious 
refugee.  The  fact  is  somewhat  curious  that  Venice 

o 

should  have  received  one  of  her  earliest  aids  to  the 
fuller  acquisition  of  Renaissance  culture,  in  return 
for  this  deed  of  kindly  courtesy.  Cosimo  founded  a 
library  in  Venice  in  the  Monastery  of  St.  George, 
which  he  enriched  with  many  rare  MSS.  and  pre- 
sented to  the  Republic  as  a  memorial  of  his  gratitude. 
Cosimo's  interest  in  the  Renaissance  began  when  he 
was  a  boy,  increased  when  he  was  a  lad,  and  became 
a  passion  in  manhood.  Of  course,  he  was  not  without 
pricks  to  stimulate  his  emulation.  Though  loving 
learning  for  its  own  sake,  he  found  it  to  his  advan- 
tage, in  both  a  commercial  and  a  political  sense,  to 
appear  to  the  world  as  one  of  the  leading  Florentine 
patrons  of  letters.  His  enemies  and  political  rivals, 
Rinaldo  degli  Albizzi  and  Palla  degli  Strozzi — both 
of  them  twenty  years  older  than  he — had  posed  as 
Tuscan  Maecenases  for  fully  a  decade  and  a  half 
before  he  appeared  on  the  scene.  Rinaldo  himself 
was  no  mean  scholar,  and  he  employed  one  of  the 


52  THE  MEDICI  AND 

greatest  men  of  the  age,  Toramaso  da  Sarzaiia,1  as 
tutor  to  his  children.  Palla  degli  Strozzi  was  the 
wealthiest  man  in  Florence.2  His  services  to  the 
cause  of  learning  during  the  years  between  1395  and 
1434,  when  he  was  banished,  are  worthy  of  all  praise. 
He  it  was  who  brought  the  great  Latinist,  Giovanni 
da  Ravenna,  to  Florence ;  who  secured  the  Chancellor- 
ship of  Florence  for  Salutato,  the  peerless  Latin  stylist 
of  his  time ;  who,  as  we  have  seen,  was  largely  instru- 
mental in  inducing  Chrysoloras  to  occupy  the  chair 
of  Greek,  and  who  spent  immense  sums  in  getting 
editions  of  the  classics  copied  to  facilitate  Hellenic 
studies.  Vespasiano  says  regarding  him — 

"  Being  passionately  fond  of  literature,  Messer  Palla  always 
kept  copyists  in  his  own  house  and  outside  of  it,  of  the  best 
who  were  in  Florence,  both  for  Greek  and  Latin  books ;  and 
all  the  books  he  could  find  he  purchased  on  all  subjects,  being 
minded  to  form  a  most  noble  (public)  library  in  Santa  Trinita.'"' 3 

He  was,  in  fact,  the  first  to  conceive  the  idea  of  a 
public  library,  though  his  great  rival  Cosimo,  after  he 
had  succeeded  in  ruining  Palla,  was  the  one  destined 
to  carry  the  project  into  effect. 

These  were  the  men  with  whom  Cosimo  had  to  con- 
tend in  a  rivalry  that  would  have  been  honourable  and 
productive  of  immense  good  but  for  the  paltry  Medi- 
cean  jealousy.  Cosimo  felt  himself  clearly  outclassed 
in  moral  nobility  of  character.  He  had  to  substitute 
craft  for  courage,  and  chicanery  for  straightforward- 

1  Afterwards  Pope  Nicholas  v. 

2  He  was  wealthier  even  than  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  for  in  the  catasto 
— a  sort  of  tax  on  wealth — his  property  was  set  down  at  one- fifth  more 
than  that  of  the  Medici. 

8  Biographies,  p.  275. 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  53 

ness  in  his  dealings  with  them.  True,  the  fact  cannot  be 
denied  that  Rinaldo  degli  Albizzi,  when  he  felt  himself 
being  defeated  by  Cosimo's  underhand  schemes,  resorted 
to  weapons  of  a  like  character.  But  nothing  of  the 
kind  has  ever  been  alleged  against  Messer  Palla.  He 
lived  and  died  one  of  the  truest  patriots  and  noblest 
souls  Italy  ever  produced.  For  many  years  the  emu- 
lation of  these  men,  the  chief  patrons  of  Florentine 
scholarship,  letters,  and  art,  achieved  the  happiest  re- 
sults for  the  germinating  Renaissance  spirit.  From 
1400  to  1430  their  influence  was  all  directed  towards 
rendering  the  Tuscan  capital  the  centre,  as  it  had 
already  been  the  source,  of  Italian  culture. 

Cosimo,  as  we  have  said,  impressed  himself  on  the 
minds  of  his  fellow-citizens  as  the  munificent  Maecenas 
of  the  Revival  of  Letters  before  revealing  himself  as 
the  political  Richelieu  of  his  generation.  Although 
compelled  in  his  earlier  years  to  share  a  divided 
throne  as  regards  the  patronage  of  classical  learning 
with  Rinaldo  and  Palla,  the  brilliancy  of  what  may  be 
termed  the  Medicean  entourage  was  so  great  as  totally 
to  eclipse  the  merely  personal  popularity  of  the  others. 
Such  men  as  Niccolo"  de'  Niccoli,  Tommaso  Parentucelli 
of  Sarzana  (afterwards  Pope  Nicholas  V.),  Ambrogio 
Traversari,  Poggio  Bracciolini,  Lionardo  Bruni,  Carlo 
Marsuppini,  Gianozzo  Manetti  —  who  were  the  first 
fruits  of  the  Renaissance  culture  in  Florence  —  by 
their  wide  learning  and  enthusiasm  in  the  cause  of 
scholarship,  shed  a  lustre  over  the  Medicean  patronage 
of  letters  which  stamped  it  one  of  the  most  powerful 
influences  in  advancing  the  "  New  Learning." 

That  early  period  in  Cosimo  de'  Medici's  life,  lasting 
from  his  birth  in  1389  to  about  1429-1430,  when  his 


54  THE  MEDICI   AND 

father  died  and  he  was  left  the  controlling  power  in 
both  the  Medicean  banking-house  and  the  Medicean 
party — a  period  in  all  of  about  forty  years — was 
marked  by  a  steady  development  of  all  his  powers. 
It  was  a  period,  moreover,  of  incessant  industry,  both 
intellectual  and  political,  and  of  patient  strengthening 
of  his  family  connections.  That  he  worked  with  skill 
and  secrecy,  at  least  as  long  as  his  father  lived,  is 
evident  from  the  fact  that  the  Government  entertained 
no  dread  of  his  plans,  since  during  the  twelve  years 
included  between  the  dates  1416-1428  he  was  twice  a 
member  of  the  Signory,  was  employed  on  embassies 
to  Milan,  Lucca,  and  Bologna,  and  in  1426  was  in- 
trusted alone  with  a  mission  of  importance  to  Pope 
Martin  v.  Coluccio  Salutato,  who  early  detected  the 
youth's  genius,  had  predicted  that  Cosimo  would  yet 
be  the  greatest  glory  of  Florence.  The  prophecy  was 
fulfilled,  but  in  a  way  somewhat  different  from  that 
which  the  grand  old  Florentine  Chancellor  could  have 
believed  possible. 

His  enthusiasm  for  MSS.  and  relics  of  antiquity 
began  almost  from  boyhood.  We  have  already  seen 
the  "  standing "  order  circulated  to  all  the  agents  and 
correspondents  of  his  father's  bank.  Our  next  view  of 
him  reveals  him  giving  a  carte  blanche  to  Poggio  to 
spare  no  expense  in  securing  any  MSS.  while  he  was 
in  attendance  as  Papal  Secretary  at  the  Council  of  Con- 
stance. Poggio's  own  means  were  limited,  but  with  the 
purse  of  Cosimo  de'  Medici  behind  him  he  was  able  to 
achieve  wonders  by  exploring  the  dust-covered  libraries 
in  the  Swiss  and  Suabian  convents.  The  treasures  he 
unearthed  at  Reichenau,  Weingarten,  and  above  all 
St.  Gall,  restored  to  Italy  many  lost  masterpieces  of 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE  55 

Latin  literature,  and  supplied  students  with  the  full 
texts  of  authors  which  had  hitherto  only  been  known 
in  mutilated  fragments.  He  brought  to  light  at 
various  times,  covered  with  dust  and  filthy  with 
neglect  and  age,  yet  as  regards  the  precious  text 
absolutely  intact,  the  Institutions  of  Quintilian,  the 
works  of  Lucretius,  Columella,  Silius  Italicus,  Manilius, 
Vitruvius,  Frontinus,  several  of  the  missing  books  of 
Cicero,  a  portion  of  the  Argonautica  of  Flaccus,  and 
the  Commentaries  of  Asconius  Pedianus,  Ammi- 
anus  Marcellinus,  Nonius  Marcellus,  Probus,  Tertullian, 
Flavius  Caper,  and  Eutyches.  By  no  means  a  bad 
record  for  a  single  Humanist  to  achieve !  But 
Poggio's  zeal  really  did  not  recognise  as  difficulties 
what  to  other  men,  troubled  with  that  inconvenient 
piece  of  luggage — a  conscience,  would  have  been 
obstacles  insuperable.  For  example,  when  the  monas- 
tery at  Hersfeld  refused  either  to  lend  or  even  to 
allow  him  to  copy  its  rare  codex  of  Livy,  he  quietly 
bribed  one  of  the  holy  brethren  to  steal  the  MS.  for 
him,  which  he  copied  and  returned — then  published,  to 
the  no  small  chagrin  of  all  concerned,  the  story  of  the 
trick  he  had  played.1  Cosimo  allowed  him  to  make 
a  copy  of  all  the  MSS.  he  secured  for  his  patron.  Thus 
he  acquired  what  was  regarded  as  a  large  library,  even 
in  the  days  before  the  discovery  of  printing.  With 
Pope  Martin  v.  (1417-1431)  Cosimo  was  on  intimate 
terms,  and  received  a  leading  share  of  the  papal  bank- 
ing business,  while  he  was  also  able  to  influence  that 
stern  old  pontiff  to  allow  some  crumbs  of  favour  to 
fall  to  the  promoters  of  the  "New  Learning." 

Even    while   a   young   man    Cosimo   preferred    the 

1  Voigt,  Die  lVi<-derl>clcbunci  dcs  classischen  Alterthums,  p.  138. 


56  THE  MEDICI  AND 

society  of  Humanists  to  that  of  all  other  companions. 
In  a  succeeding  chapter  we  shall  detail  specifically  the 
friendships  he  formed  and  the  pursuits  he  favoured 
during  his  long  and  active  life.  Meantime,  suffice  it 
to  say  that  during  those  earlier  years,  whether  he 
chanced  to  be  a  visitor  at  Luigi  Marsigli's  cell  at  San 
Spirito ;  whether  he  was  discussing  with  the  grave 
and  stately  Lionardo  Bruni  the  antiquities  of  Italy 
or  Greece  at  the  Chancellary  of  the  Florentine  Re- 
public; whether  debating  the  respective  merits  of 
Platonism  and  Christianity  with  the  taciturn  and 
melancholy  Marsuppini ;  rejoicing  over  the  latest  dis- 
coveries of  MSS.  with  the  indefatigable  collector,  Nic- 
co!6  de  Niccoli,  in  his  villa  on  the  banks  of  the  Arno; 
or  hearing  that  faithful  son  of  the  Church,  Ambrooio 

O  '  ~ 

Traversari,  reading  some  of  his  translations  from  the 
Greek  Fathers  in  his  study  in  the  Convent  degli 
Angeli,  Cosimo  was  always  the  same  courteous,  sym- 
pathetic, though  somewhat  reserved,  companion, — a 
better  listener  than  a  conversationalist,  but  a  keen 
critic  when  any  fallacy  was  committed.  With  the 
Signory  his  influence  was  always  freely  exercised  to 
obtain  privileges  for  the  "  New  Learning  "  ;  and  if  the 
State  treasury  were  low  he  wras  ever  ready  to  make 
good  from  his  own  purse  any  deficiency  in  the  sums 
voted  for  the  encouragement  of  letters.  Cosimo  early 
realised  his  responsibilities  as  regards  the  Renaissance, 
and  however  much  we  may  condemn  him  in  other  re- 
spects, however  much  we  may  feel  that,  in  a  political 
sense,  he  played  only  to  suit  his  own  hand,  as  regards 
the  Revival  of  Letters,  there  can  only  be  one  opinion 
— that  he  acted  throughout  as  a  disinterested  and 
public-spirited  patron, 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  57 

SECTION  3. — From  Giovanni's  Death  until  the 
Date  of  Cosimo's  Exile 

POPES — Martin  v.,  1417  ;  Eugenius,  1431 

When  Cosimo  de'  Medici  assumed  the  family  honours 
in  1429-1430,  Europe  was  a  seething  cauldron  of  social 
and  political  unrest.  Martin  v.,  whom  the  Council 
of  Constance  had  elected  Pope  in  room  of  the  deposed 
John  xxiii.,  was  nearing  the  end  of  a  pontificate  where- 
in, despite  numerous  errors  in  judgment,  he  had  restored 
the  monarchical  authority  of  the  Papacy,  subjugated 
the  College  of  Cardinals  to  his  will,  and  once  more  laid 
the  foundation  of  the  princely  power  of  the  Sacred 
Chair.  His  attitude  towards  the  Renaissance  was  at 
first  indifference,  then  veiled  antagonism.  To  Cosimo 
he  accorded  some  privileges  on  behalf  of  the  "  New 
Learning,"  but  they  were  so  slight  as  to  be  scarce 
worthy  of  mention. 

The  Visconti  were  still  masters  of  Milan.  The  wars, 
however,  had  commenced  between  that  State  on  the 
one  hand,  and  Venice,  Florence,  and  occasionally  the 
Papacy  on  the  other, — wars  destined  to  end  in  placing 
the  Sforzas  in  the  ducal  chair  of  the  Visconti.  Naples 
and  the  two  Sicilies  were  convulsed  over  the  question 
of  succession — whether  Alfonso  v.  of  Aragon  or  Louis 
in.  of  Anjou  should  be  the  chosen  heir.  Eastern 
Europe  was  aflame  over  the  Hussite  revolt.  The  ad- 
herents of  the  martyred  John  Huss,  having  set 
Bohemia  on  fire  with  indignation  over  the  "judicial 
murder  "  of  their  leader  and  Jerome  of  Prague  at  the 
Council  of  Constance,  were  now  advancing  into 
Hungary  to  kindle  their  sympathisers  there  into  the 


58  THE  MEDICI   AND 

same  blaze  of  religious  wrath.  The  Turks,  repulsed 
from  Constantinople  in  1422,  were  again  threatening 
the  city.1  Even  in  Rome  there  was  so  much  anarchy 
that  Martin  left  for  a  time  the  banks  of  the  Tiber  for 
the  banks  of  the  Arno. 

Not  that  Florence  itself  was  much  more  tranquil 
at  that  juncture.  The  policy  of  the  Albizzi  was  to 
withdraw  the  attention  of  the  citizens  from  home 
affairs  by  a  spirited  foreign  policy.  Maso,  the  leader  of 
the  faction,  had  waged  a  long  duel  with  the  Visconti 
of  Milan.  When  his  son  Rinaldo  succeeded  him  in 
1417,  he  in  turn  sought  to  conceal  his  oligarchic 
methods  of  managing  the  civic  affairs,  by  engaging 
the  Republic,  professedly  in  consequence  of  treaty 
obligations  with  Venice,  in  a  tedious  and  unsuccessful 
war  with  Filippo  Maria  Visconti,  which  cost  350,000 
golden  florins,  and  brought  with  it  no  credit.  To 
meet  these  extraordinary  expenses  he  had  to  raise 
new  public  loans,  thereby  depreciating  the  value  of 
the  old  Florentine  funds.  Thereafter  he  proposed 
to  impose  on  the  people  that  crushing  system  of 
municipal  taxation  that  brought  Giovanni  de'  Medici 
into  the  political  arena  to  champion  the  cause  of 
the  masses,  and  to  initiate  that  campaign  which  was 
to  end,  some  years  afterwards,  in  the  ruin  of  the 
Albizzi. 

Scarcely  had  Cosimo  assumed  the  honours  of  the 
family  than  events  tended  to  foster  the  conviction  in 
the  minds  of  the  citizens  that  war  d  I'outrance  would 
soon  be  declared  between  him  and  Rinaldo.  After 
1431-1432  the  fact  became  every  day  more  apparent. 

1  Cf.  Gregorovius,  bk.  viii.  cap.  i.  ;  Jakob.  Burkard,  Diam//i-  ; 
Blondns,  Decades,  iii.  lib.  iv.  460. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE  59 

Both   sides  were   secretly  preparing  for   the  trial  of 
strength. 

"  An  oligarchy  proper  (that  is,  a  State  where  power  is  con- 
fined to  a  wealthy  minority)  is  subject  to  the  danger  that 
wealth  is  a  more  fluid  element  than  family.  Its  distribution 
between  class  and  class,  between  one  group  of  houses  and 
another,  may  shift  with  extreme  rapidity.  .  .  .  The  imme- 
diate issue  between  Einaldo  and  Cosimo  was  the  control  of 
the  chief  magistracy,  the  Signoria,  for  with  this  lay  the 
power  to  force  the  Opposition  from  the  State.  Binaldo  was 
reserved  and  stingy.  Cosimo  was  popular,  and  he  won  sup- 
porters by  paying  their  arrears  of  taxes,  and  thus  replacing 
them  on  the  roll  of  citizens."  l 

Cosimo  was  too  clever  a  tactician  not  to  use  the 
Renaissance  and  his  connection  with  it  to  strengthen 
his  position  in  this  deadly  contest.  Since  becoming 
the  head  of  the  family  his  interest  in  the  welfare  and 
development  of  the  "  New  Learning "  had  materially 
increased,  and  by  all  possible  expedients  he  sought  to 
win  the  Humanists  to  his  side.  From  this  time  hence- 
forward Cosimo's  public  life  ran  in  two  grooves,  quite 
distinct  from  each  other  yet  mutually  complementary. 
These  were  his  political  and  his  Humanistic  planes  of 
action.  His  enormous  wealth  enabled  him  to  lend 
money  to  the  State  on  easy  terms.  Besides,  he  took 
care  always  to  have  floating  foreign  capital  beside 
him,  so  that  there  was  no  delay  needed  to  satisfy 
the  civic  wants.  Whatever  the  sacrifice  to  himself, 
he  always  saw  to  it  that  the  burghers  had  no  time 
for  second  thoughts  with  regard  to  the  contracting  of 
State  debts.  By  means  of  his  numerous  agents  and 

1  Armstrong,  Lorenzo  de1  Medici,  \i.  1 6. 


60  THE  MEDICI  AND 

correspondents  he  was  also  able  to  keep  his  own 
wealth  invested  far  beyond  the  reach  of  any  of  his 
enemies  within  the  city.  By  pursuing  this  policy  for 
some  years,  he  was  able  to  effect  such  complete  inter- 
mixture between  the  finances  of  Florence  and  his  own 
trade  resources  that  the  bankruptcy  of  the  Medici, 
should  it  by  any  malign  influence  have  been  brought 
about,  would  have  meant  the  State  insolvency  of  the 
Republic  as  well.  He  was  also  very  ready  to  lend 
needy  burghers  money  to  tide  them  over  their  difficul- 
ties, with  a  sort  of  tacit  understanding  that  they  would 
not  be  bothered  about  its  repayment  if  only  they  con- 
sented to  support  Cosimo  in  his  policy.  Thus  did  he, 
like  the  octopus  with  its  prey,  cast  his  tentacles  around 
both  the  State  and  its  inhabitants. 

The  great  secret  of  Cosimo's  influence  lay  in  his 
affability  and  accessibility.  He  made  himself  the 
equal  of  the  poorest.  The  humblest  fruit-seller  in 
the  Mercato  Vecchio  had  as  ready  access  to  him  as 
the  ambassadors  from  the  Courts  of  Europe  who  came 
to  borrow  money  or  to  get  him  to  finance  their  wars. 
He  was  proud  to  be  considered  "  only  a  burgher."  He 
still  lived  among  his  fellow-townsmen  in  the  Mercato 
Vecchio  at  the  end  of  the  Via  Larga.  "  This  piazza," 
says  George  Eliot,  "though  it  had  been  the  scene  of 
a  provision  market  from  time  immemorial,  and  may 
perhaps,  says  fond  imagination,  be  the  very  spot  to 
which  the  Fesulean  ancestors  of  the  Florentines  de- 
scended from  their  high  fastness  to  traffic  with  the 
rustic  population  of  the  valley,  had  not  been  shunned 
as  a  place  of  residence  by  Florentine  wealth.  In  the 
early  decades  of  the  fifteenth  century  .  .  .  the  Medici 
and  other  powerful  families  of  the  popoUtni  grassi,  or 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE  61 

commercial  nobility,  had  their  houses  there,  not  per- 
haps finding  their  ears  much  offended  by  the  loud 
roar  of  mingled  dialects,  or  their  eyes  much  shocked 
by  the  butchers'  stalls."  l 

The  government  of  Florence,  to  secure  control  of 
which  Rinaldo  degli  Albizzi  and  Cosimo  de'  Medici  were 
thus  putting  forth  their  supreme  efforts,  was  nominally 
a  Republic,  directed  by  a  Signory  or  Council  of  Nine 
Citizens,  including  a  Chief  Executive  Officer  elected 
every  two  months,  called  the  Gonfaloniere,  or  Standard- 
bearer.  This  system  of  government  was  devised  to 
preserve  the  full  and  free  exercise  of  their  liberties 
and  institutions  to  the  citizens.  The  aim  of  the 
oligarch,  on  the  other  hand,  was  to  ensure  that  the 
names  in  the  Borse,  or  boxes  whence  candidates  for 
the  offices  of  State  were  drawn,  should  previously  have 
been  so  arranged  that  they  contained  no  names  but 
those  of  men  dependent  on  or  favourable  to  that 
party's  domination.2  The  "  Signory "  and  the  "  Gon- 
faloniere "  possessed  at  once  the  chief  executive  power 
and  the  right  of  initiating  legislation.  Next  to  these 
were  the  two  Colleges  of  the  twelve  "  Buonomini," 
and  the  College  of  the  sixteen  Gonfaloniere.  These 
two  sets  of  Magistrates  held  office  "  three  "  and  "  four  " 
months  respectively,  and  with  the  "  Signory "  were 
called  the  three  "  Greater  Magistracies."  A  proposal 
which  had  received  the  approval  of  two-thirds  of  the 
Signory,  and  likewise  of  a  similar  proportion  of  the 
Colleges,  was  then  brought  before  the  Councils  of  the 
"  People  "  and  of  the  "  Commune,"  the  former  consisting 

1  Bomola,  bk.  i.  chap.  i. 

2  Florence,  by  E.   G.   Gardner  (in  Dent  &  Co.'s  "Mediaeval   Towns 
Series"),  chap.  iii. 


62  THE  MEDICI  AND 

exclusively  of  the  "Arti,"  totalling  in  all  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  members,  while  the  latter  contained 
several  nobles,  many  wealthy  merchants,  and  numbered 
about  three  hundred.  In  both,  the  higher  magistrates 
of  the  State  had  seats  ex  officio,  and  also  the  Consuls 
of  the  seven  "  Greater "  and  the  fourteen  "  Lesser " 
Arti,  while  the  remainder  were  chosen  in  equal  pro- 
portions from  the  four  quarters  of  the  town. 

The  principal  aim  of  either  party,  however,  was  to 
secure  the  control  of  the  election  of  the  Signory  or 
City  Council,  for  thereby  all  was  secured.  The  Signory 
was  in  reality  the  fountain  or  springhead  of  power, 
whence  all  the  other  offices  and  bodies  drew  their 
authority.  Its  members  were  chosen  by  lot,  and 
having  once  served  they  were  not  eligible  again  for  a 
considerable  time.  All  members  of  the  Arti  were 
legally  qualified  to  hold  office.  This  privilege,  how- 
ever, was  limited  by  the  necessity  of  passing  the 
"  Scrutinies."  As  the  object  of  each  Government  was 
to  control  the  making  of  the  "Scrutinies,"  only  the 
names  of  citizens  well  disposed  to  oligarchs,  as  we  have 
said,  were  permitted  to  pass  into  the  Borse. 

Two  other  important  "  Committees  "  were  the  "  Pra- 
tiche "  and  the  "  Dieci."  The  former  consisted  of 
leading  men  called  in  by  the  Signory  to  give  advice 
and  aid  on  important  matters ;  the  latter  was  a 
"  Council  of  Ten,"  into  whose  hands  foreign  and 
military  affairs  were  placed  that  they  might  be  pro- 
perly conducted.  These  facts  with  reference  to  the 
civic  government  of  Florence,  although  they  have  no 
direct  connection  with  the  Renaissance,  are  mentioned 
because  much  depended  on  the  triumph  of  the  Medici 
rather  than  the  Albizzi,  whether  or  not  the  "  Revival 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  63 

of  Letters "  was  to  proceed  along  the  best  lines  of  de- 
velopment. Had  Rinaldo  degli  Albizzi  succeeded  in 
crushing  Cosimo,  his  penuriousness  would  have  driven 
Humanism  from  Florence. 

Cosimo  could  not  but  know  that  the  action  he  was 
taking  in  angling  for  popular  support  through  the 
Renaissance,  was  giving  deadly  offence  to  the  Albizzi. 
He  did  not,  however,  anticipate  that  the  blow  would 
fall  on  him  so  soon.  He  reckoned  that  the  disagree- 
ment between  Rinaldo,  the  head  of  the  extreme  "wing" 
of  the  oligarchic  party,  and  Niccol(5  da  Uzzano,  who 
led  the  moderate  section, — which  desired  to  find  some 
via  media  or  modus  vivendi,  whereby  the  two  great 
houses  of  Medici  and  Albizzi  might  mutually  bear  and 
forbear  as  regards  each  other's  claims  to  supremacy, — 
would  have  prevented  Rinaldo  taking  action  for  some 
time.1  The  latter,  however,  speedily  perceived  that 
unless  he  struck  without  delay,  Cosimo's  munificent 
patronage  of  letters,  his  affability  and  kindly  courtesy, 
would  entirely  undermine  the  influence  of  the  Albizzi 
faction  in  the  minds  of  the  fickle  Florentines. 

Rinaldo  at  this  moment  had  lost  much  of  his  popu- 
larity, owing  to  the  unsuccessful  prosecution  of  the 
war  with  Milan  and  the  consequent  exhaustion  of  the 
Florentine  resources.  Her  finances  were  in  confusion  ; 
all  the  bankers  save  the  Medici  refused  to  lend  money 
upon  public  credit,  and  the  price  of  the  Monte  Com- 
mune, or  civic  debt,  fell  almost  to  nothing.  The  War 
Commissioners  quarrelled  with  each  other,  in  place  of 
prosecuting  the  campaign  with  vigour.  In  vain 
Rinaldo  went  to  Siena  to  treat  for  peace  through  the 

1  Of.  Machiavelli's  and  Prof.  Villari's  Histories  of  Florence  ;  Yon 
Beumont's  Life  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici. 


64  THE  MEDICI  AND 

Emperor  Sigismund,  who  had  arrived  in  the  peninsula 
to  obtain  his  investiture  and  the  Italian  and  Imperial 
Crowns  from  the  Pope ;  in  vain  Cosimo  and  Palla 
degli  Strozzi  went  to  Ferrara  to  discuss  terms  between 
Milan,  Venice,  and  Florence.  When  in  April  1433  a 
general  peace  was  signed,  the  conditions  were  distinctly 
unfavourable  to  Florentine  interests,  and  both  Albizzi 
and  Medici  laid  the  blame  of  the  failure  upon  the  other. 
On  returning  from  Ferrara,  Cosimo  was  called  to  serve 

o 

on  the  "  Dieci,"  or  "  Council  of  Ten,"  for  the  administra- 
tion of  military  and  foreign  affairs,  and  gained  great 
reputation  for  the  ability  he  there  displayed.  He  also 
came  to  the  assistance  of  the  State,  and  advanced  large 
sums  by  which  the  Republic  was  enabled  to  surmount 
its  financial  difficulties.  All  this  was  gall  and  worm- 
wood to  Rinaldo.  Accordingly,  after  consulting  with 
his  friends,  he  prepared  to  take  action. 

On  September  7th,  1433,  the  blow  fell.  Cosimo  had 
retired  to  his  country-house  in  the  Mugello,  but  in 
response  to  the  summons  of  his  friends  he  returned  to 
Florence.  The  Gonfaloniere  for  the  succeeding  two 
months  was  likely  to  be  Bernardo  Guadagni,  who  was 
in  Rinaldo's  power,  the  latter  having  paid  his  taxes. 
This  was  the  tool  which  the  Albizzi  determined  to 
employ  to  crush  Cosimo.  Rinaldo  and  his  son  Ormanno 
were  prepared  to  stick  at  nothing  to  accomplish  their 
ends.  They  were  resolved  the  struggle  should  be  a 
duel  to  the  death.  Both  families  could  not  remain 
in  Florence.  On  the  day  in  question  Cosimo  was 
engaged  at  his  banking-house  when  he  was  suddenly 
summoned  to  the  Palazzo  Pubblico.  On  arriving 
there,  he  found  the  municipal  buildings  surrounded  by 
armed  men,  and  the  Albizzi  in  command  of  the  situa- 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE  65 

tion.  He  was  immediately  denounced  as  a  rebel,  the 
responsibility  for  all  the  recent  disasters  in  the  Milanese 
war  being  laid  on  his  shoulders.  He  was  committed 
to  close  ward  in  the  central  tower.  For  four-and- 
twenty  days  he  remained  in  suspense,  while  his  rivals 
were  debating  what  should  be  done  with  him.  The 
great  bell  was  sounded,  the  citizens  were  summoned  to 
"  the  Piazza, "  where  a  Balia,  or  Committee  of  Reform, 
was  selected.  Thereafter  Cosimo  was  formally  im- 
peached. Fain  would  Rinaldo  have  put  him  to  death, 
and  thus,  as  Machiavelli  says,  have  justified  his  own 
policy.  But  the  attitude  of  the  people  daunted  him, 
and  eventually  the  sentence  was  pronounced  that 
Cosimo  should  be  exiled  for  ten  years.1 

Meantime  the  unfortunate  prisoner  was  undergoing 
tortures  of  anxiety.  He  dreaded  poison,  and  declined 
to  taste  anything  save  eggs  and  bread,  until  his  jailor, 
Federigo  Malavolti,  who  had  received  many  kindnesses 
from  him  in  the  past,  reassured  him  by  declaring  he 
would  partake  of  every  dish  along  with  him.  Nor 
were  his  friends  idle  meantime.  Owing  to  their  repre- 
sentations several  of  the  Italian  States  interfered  on 
his  behalf.  His  brother  Lorenzo,  taking  with  him 
Cosimo's  children,  had  fled  to  Venice  and  informed  the 
chief  men  in  the  Venetian  Republic  of  the  imminent 
peril  wherein  the  head  of  the  house  of  Medici  then 
stood.  Immediately  the  great  family  of  the  Donati,2  the 
relatives  of  the  deposed  Pope,  John  xxin.  (Cardinal 
Balthazar  Cossa),  recalling  the  disinterested  services 
rendered  by  Cosimo  to  their  kinsman,  urged  the  Govern- 

1  Cf.  Cosimo  de  Medici,  p.  25.  by  Dorothea  Ewart ;  Machiavelli,  bk.  iv. 
-  Blood  relations  of  the  Florentine  Donati,  to  which  family  Dante's 
wife  belonged. 

5 


66  THE  MEDICI  AND 

ment  of  Venice  to  champion  his  cause.  This  they 
agreed  to  do,  and  straightway  despatched  three  am- 
bassadors to  Florence  on  the  mission.  The  Marquis  of 
Ferrara  and  Pope  Eugenius  iv.  likewise  intervened. 
Kinaldo,  although  personally  he  contended  that  Cosimo 
would  never  cease  to  be  a  source  of  danger  unless  he 
were  put  to  death,  gave  way  before  the  representations 
of  Palla  degli  Strozzi  and  others,  that  they  would  do 
their  cause  more  harm  than  good  by  unnecessary  blood- 
shed. He  was  therefore  led  to  sentence  Cosimo  to 
banishment  in  place  of  death,  and,  as  Machiavelli  says, 
by  sparing  his  rival's  life  Rinaldo  sealed  the  ruin  of 
his  own  family. 

On  departing  from  his  native  city  to  begin  his  term 
of  exile  Cosimo  became  at  once  a  hero.  His  journey 
northward  resembled  the  triumphal  progress  of  some 
great  conqueror.  As  Symonds  pithily  puts  it,  "  he  left 
Florence  a  simple  burgher ;  he  entered  Venice  a  power- 
ful prince."  There  is  in  politics  a  seeming  defeat  that 
is  in  reality  a  victory.  Such  was  the  result  of  the 
lirst  act  in  the  deadly  drama  that  was  being  enacted 
by  the  Albizzi  and  the  Medici. 

In  the  Humanistic  and  politically  neutral  circles  in 
Florence — in  other  words,  among  those  whom  the  Albizzi 
either  despised  on  account  of  their  weakness  or  left 
unmolested  owing  to  their  wide  family  connections — 
intense  indignation  had  been  expressed  over  the  treat- 
ment meted  out  to  Cosimo.  The  broad  and  practical 
sympathy  he  displayed  with  the  intellectual,  artistic, 
and  spiritual  movements  of  the  age  was  remembered 
with  admiration,  despite  the  foul  slanders  of  Filelfo. 
He  had  been  a  scholar  among  scholars,  an  antiquary 
among  antiquaries,  a  philosopher  among  philosophers, 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  67 

an  admirer  of  the  poets  among  poets.  While  other 
Humanist  patrons  deemed  it  fashionable  to  sneer  at 
Italian  vernacular  literature,  Cosimo  defended  it.  The 
remark  to  which  he  gave  expression  the  year  before 
his  exile,  "  The  day  is  not  far  distant  when  Dante 
will  rank  with  Homer  and  Virgil  as  one  of  the  great 
classics  of  the  world,"  showed  the  depth  of  his  sym- 
pathy with  everything  Italian,  as  well  as  the  keenness 
of  his  prevision.  Even  by  political  opponents  like 
Palla  degli  Strozzi,  the  treatment  to  which  Cosimo 
had  been  subjected  was  condemned.  To  his  intense 
chagrin,  Rinaldo  found  Cosimo  tenfold  more  popular 
after  his  exile  than  before,  while  all  that  the  Albizzi 
had  been  able  to  effect  by  their  long  contemplated 
coup  was  to  turn  against  them  the  sympathies  of  the 
"  New  Learning."  Of  this  fact  Rinaldo  was  soon  made 
aware,  by  being  pelted  daily  with  mercilessly  satirical 
epigrams,  whose  effect  was  to  cover  him  and  his  party 
with  ridicule,  yet  whose  authors  he  failed  to  discover. 

The  reason  of  this  was  that  Rinaldo,1  although  a 
professed  patron  of  the  Renaissance,  was  more  lavish 
in  benevolent  good  wishes  than  of  his  money.  Cosimo, 
on  the  other  hand,  although  his  political  and  commer- 
cial plans  were  conceived  on  a  scale  so  vast  as  to  excite 
the  wonder  even  of  later  ages,  nevertheless  found  time 
to  continue  the  Humanistic  studies  of  his  earlier  years, 
and  to  manifest  an  ever  deepening  interest  in  the 
progress  and  extension  of  the  Renaissance.  He  set 
apart  princely  sums  for  the  copying  of  rare  MSS. ;  he 
reiterated  once  and  again  his  advices  to  his  agents  and 
correspondents  all  over  Europe  and  the  Levant  that 

1  Maso  degli  Albizzi  was  a  much  more  generous  patron  of  letters  than 
his  sou,  whose  avarice  was  proverbial  in  Florence. 


68  THE  MEDICI   AND 

all  relics  of  antiquity,  irrespective  of  cost,  were  to  be 
secured  for  him ;  while  to  the  early  Humanists  them- 
selves he  acted  the  part  of  a  discerning  and  muni- 
ficent Maecenas.  To  his  purse  the  possession  of 
learning  was  an  unfailing  "  Open  Sesame."  He  edu- 
cated many  youths  of  promise,  while  no  poor  scholar 
ever  applied  to  him  for  assistance  in  vain.  If  the 
petitioner  were  fitted  for  the  work,  he  employed  him  in 
his  corps  of  copyists;  if  not,  he  assisted  him  pecuni- 
arily until  he  was  able  either  to  obtain  tutorial  work 
for  him  in  some  noble  family,  or  public  teaching  in 
connection  with  the  studii  pubblici  (high-schools). 
It  was  this  genuinely  earnest  desire  to  foster  the  spirit 
of  culture  and  the  growth  of  sound  scholarship  that 
first  gave  Cosimo  his  hold  on  the  intellectual  classes  in 
the  city.  Of  all  the  Tuscan  Humanists,  Filelfo  alone 
sided  with  the  Albizzi,  and  his  action  was  determined 
by  spleen. 

Of  the  other  Florentine  Humanists  of  Cosimo's  epoch 
we  shall  speak  in  the  next  section,  but  of  Filelfo  it 
may  be  well  to  state  here  what  we  have  to  say  about 
him ;  as  by  the  time  Cosimo  returned  in  triumph 
from  exile,  this  indiscreet  scholar  had  been  obliged  to 
take  refuge  elsewhere.  Francesco  Filelfo  (1398-1481) 
was  undoubtedly  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  earlier 
Humanists,  and,  as  SchafF  pithily  remarks,  "  was  both 
much  admired  and  much  hated  by  his  contemporaries." l 
Born  at  Tolentino  in  the  March  of  Ancona,  he  pursued 
his  studies  at  the  University  of  Padua  with  a  success 
so  brilliant  that  he  was  appointed  to  a  professorial 
chair  there  at  the  age  of  eighteen.  In  the  following 

1  The  Renaissance,  by  Philip  Schaff,  D.D.,  LL.D.  (New  York,  G. 
P.  Putnam's  Sons). 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  69 

year,  having  received  an  invitation  to  teach  "  Elo- 
quence and  Moral  Philosophy  "  at  Venice,  he  migrated 
thither  and  remained  two  years,  profiting  by  the  society 
and  the  advice  of  Guarino  da  Verona  and  Vittorino  da 
Feltre  —  the  two  greatest  Humanistic  instructors  of 
the  fifteenth  century.  Even  at  this  period  Filelfo's 
learning  was  esteemed  extraordinary.  Admitted  a 
citizen  of  the  Venetian  Republic  by  public  decree — of 
itself  no  small  tribute  to  his  eminence — he  soon  after 
received  an  offer  of  the  secretaryship  to  the  "  Baily,' 
or  Consul  -  General  of  Venice  at  Constantinople 
He  had  been  anxious  to  proceed  thither  to  study 
Greek.  The  way  was  thus  opened  for  him  to  do  so 
For  nearly  eight  years  he  was  absent.  After  studying 
under  the  celebrated  John  Chrysoloras,  whose  daughter 
the  beautiful  Theodora,  he  subsequently  married 
through  his  father-in-law's  influence  he  was  taken 
into  the  service  of  the  Emperor,  John  Palaeologus. 
Created  a  "  Counsellor  "  by  the  latter,  he  was  at  once 
employed  on  important  diplomatic  missions  for  his 
imperial  master.  He  was  sent,  for  example,  to  Sigis- 
mund,  Emperor  of  Germany,  at  Buda-Pesth,  and  to 
Cracow,  on  the  occasion  of  the  marriage  of  King 
Ladislas  of  Naples,  to  recite  an  epithalamial  oration. 
He  was  also  despatched  by  the  Venetian  "  Baily  "  to 
the  Court  of  the  Sultan  Amurath  II.  to  negotiate  the 
terms  of  a  treaty  between  the  Republic  and  the  Turks. 
Longing  at  length  to  see  his  native  land,  and  learn- 
ing too  the  estimation  in  which  learning  was  held  there, 
he  returned  to  Italy  in  1427,  on  the  invitation  of  the 
Venetian  Signory,  and  was  installed  in  his  former  Chair 
of  Eloquence,  but  at  an  increased  salary  of  500  sequins. 
He  was  not  destined  to  hold  the  post  for  any  long 


70  THE  MEDICI  AND 

period.  The  plague  broke  out  there,  the  nobles  and  the 
leading  citizens  fled,  and  no  one  was  left  to  attend  his 
lectures.  To  Bologna,  therefore,  he  next  repaired,  only 
to  experience  there  a  similar  disappointment  from  the 
like  cause.  At  last  a  flattering  invitation  reached  him 
from  Florence,  and  in  1429  he  began  his  prelections 
there  as  "professor  of  Eloquence  and  of  Greek."  At 
first  he  was  delighted  with  his  reception.  His  vanity 
was  tickled  by  the  wonder  his  vast  learning  aroused 
among  audiences  comprising  representatives  of  well- 
nigh  all  classes  in  the  community.  In  one  of  his 
letters  he  writes :  "  The  whole  State  is  turned  to  look 
at  me.  All  men  love  and  honour  me,  and  praise  me  to 
the  skies.  My  name  is  on  every  lip.  Not  only  the 
leaders  of  the  city,  but  women  also  of  the  noblest  birth, 
make  way  for  me,  paying  me  so  much  respect  that  I 
am  ashamed  of  their  worship.  My  audience  numbers 
every  day  400  persons,  mostly  men  advanced  in  years 
and  of  the  dignity  of  senators."  l 

These  were  Filelfo's  happiest  days.  His  inordinate 
conceit  and  haughty  contempt  for  the  ideas  and  feelings 
of  others,  had  not  yet  become  so  pronounced  as  to 
arouse  the  dislike  of  other  Humanists.  Besides,  the 
Florentine  literati  were  at  first  prepared  to  overlook 
much  and  make  generous  allowances  for  the  weaknesses 
of  a  scholar,  who  had  returned  from  Constantinople 
laden  with  rare  MSS.,  whose  contents  he  was  only  too 
ready  to  make  the  public  property  of  those  attend- 
ing his  lectures.  When,  however,  his  arrogance  rose 
to  such  a  height  that  he  boasted  no  man  living  but 
himself  had  mastered  the  whole  literature  of  the 
ancients  in  both  languages ;  that  no  one  else  could 
1  Rosmini's  Vita  di  FiMfo,  p.  59. 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  71 

wield  with  equal  facility  the  prose  of  Cicero,  the  verse 
of  Horace  and  of  Virgil,  and  the  Greek  of  Homer 
and  of  Xenophoii;  nay,  when  he  went  a  step  further 
and  declared  that  he  himself  surpassed  Virgil  because 
he  was  an  orator,  and  Cicero  because  he  was  a  poet, 
and  both  of  them  because  he  could  write  Greek  as  well 
as  Latin,  the  patience  of  even  the  learning-loving 
Florentines  became  exhausted.  First  he  quarrelled 
with  Niecolo"  de  Niccoli,  then  with  Carlo  Marsuppini, 
Ambrogio  Traversari,  and  the  whole  Medicean  faction, 
including  Cosimo.  As  they  were  the  friends  who  had 
brought  him  to  Florence,  his  conduct  was  impolitic  in 
the  extreme. 

Even  his  enemies,  however,  admitted  his  stupendous 
learning  and  his  ceaseless  industry.  Here  is  the  record 
of  an  early  Humanist  teacher's  working  day.  He 
began  the  day  by  reading  and  explaining  the  "  Tusculan 
Disputations"  and  the  rhetorical  treatises  of  Cicero; 
then  he  proceeded  to  Livy  and  Homer.  After  a  brief 
rest  at  midday  he  resumed  his  labours  with  Terence 
and  a  Greek  author,  Thucydides  or  Xenophon.  On 
holidays  he  read  Dante  to  an  audience  assembled  in 
the  Duomo,  bestowing  these  lectures  as  a  gift  on  the 
people  of  Florence.  Yet  while  engrossed  with  public 
labours  so  manifold,  he  found  time  to  translate  two 
speeches  of  Lysias,  the  Rhetoric  of  Aristotle,  two 
Lives  of  Plutarch,  and  Xenophon's  panegyrics  on 
Agesilaus  and  the  institutions  of  Sparta,  as  well  as 
to  engage  in  public  controversies  with  many  of  the 
leading  men,  not  alone  in  Florence  but  throughout  Italy. 

The  manner  of  conducting  these  literary  duels  fills 
one  to-day  with  profound  amazement,  not  unmingled 
with  disgust.  Personalities  the  most  offensive,  insinua- 


72  THE  MEDICI   AND 

tions  the  most  hideous,  as  well  as  charges  of  crimes  the 
most  loathsome,  were  freely  hurled  against  an  adver- 
sary ;  while  the  vocabulary  of  abuse  was  ransacked  for 
terms  that  would  present  that  opponent  in  the  most 
disadvantageous  light.  That  the  charges  should  con- 
tain a  single  scintilla  of  truth  was  not  requisite.  Proof 
was  neither  asked  nor  given  on  either  side.  Satires, 
epigrams,  dialogues  were  circulated  wholesale,  whose 
sole  aim  was  by  every  possible  means  to  heap  insult 
on  an  adversary.  No  sooner  did  Poggio,  Papal 
Secretary  in  Rome,  hear  that  his  Medicean  friends 
were  assailed,  than  he  also  rushed  into  the  arena  and 
belaboured  Filelfo  with  satiric  effusions,  which  for  wit, 
sarcasm,  filthy  abuse,  and  utter  contempt  for  all  the 
canons  of  truth  were  fully  on  a  par  with  his  own.  This 
war  of  words  between  these  two  literary  gladiators 
was  protracted  over  several  years,  while  all  Italy 
looked  on  and  applauded  the  combatants. 

But  Filelfo  took  a  false  step  when  he  allied  himself 
with  the  Albizzi.  So  intense  was  his  dislike  to 
Cosimo  de'  Medici  and  his  circle  that  in  the  great 
political  duel  between  the  families,  notwithstanding 
the  kindness  he  had  received  from  Cosimo  on  his 
arrival  in  Florence,  he  actually  went  the  length  of 
urging  Rinaldo  to  put  his  rival  to  death  if  he  desired 
in  the  future  to  live  and  rule  in  quietness.  Such  a 
piece  of  advice  was  not  soon  forgotten  by  the  Medicean 
faction.  Florence  was  not  so  completely  under  the 
heel  of  the  Albizzi  as  Filelfo  had  hoped.  Cosimo's 
misfortunes  crowned  him  with  the  halo  of  political 
martyrdom.  His  sufferings  begat  sympathy,  while  his 
faction  was  instant  in  season  and  out  of  season  in 
working  for  his  restoration. 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  73 

Exactly  one  year  subsequent  to  the  pronouncing  of 
the  sentence  of  banishment  against  Cosimo,  a  Signory 
favourable  to  the  Medici  attained  office,  and  Rinaldo 
degli  Albizzi  was  in  his  turn  summoned  to  the  Palazzo 
Pubblico  and  declared  a  rebel.  After  a  fruitless 
attempt  to  arouse  the  people  to  rebellion,  an  attempt 
which  only  served  to  reveal  to  him  his  own  un- 
popularity, Rinaldo  was  compelled  to  listen  to  that 
sentence  of  banishment  pronounced  against  himself, 
which  twelve  months  before  he  had  heard  with  such 
satisfaction  proclaimed  against  his  rival.  Cosimo  was 
now  formally  recalled.  After  passing  through  Padua, 
Ferrara,  and  Modena,  where  he  was  accorded  honours 
only  granted  to  a  prince  returning  from  a  victorious 
expedition,  Cosimo  entered  Florence  on  the  6th  October 
1434,  being  publicly  hailed  by  the  people  and  the 
Government  alike  as  "  the  patriot  whom  the  Republic 
delighted  to  honour." 

During  his  stay  in  Venice  Cosimo,  as  has  been 
already  stated,  showed  his  appreciation  of  the  asylum 
granted  him,  by  forming  a  library  in  the  Monastery  of 
St.  George,  which  he  enriched  with  many  rare  MSS. 
and  left  to  the  Venetian  burghers  as  a  monument  of 
their  generous  kindness  and  of  his  gratitude.1  Though 
exiled  from  home,  and  without  any  assurance  he  would 
ever  see  the  banks  of  the  Arno  again,  he  never  demitted 
his  literary  studies  or  the  pursuit  of  those  branches  of 
"  the  New  Learning  "  which  he  had  made  his  own.  In 
fact,  as  Fabronius 2  informs  us,  he  found  a  consolation 
in  the  prosecution  of  them  which  soothed  his  ruffled 
mind  and  frequently  led  him  to  lay  aside  plans  of 

1  Vasari,  i.  339  ;  Roscoe,  Lorenzo  de1  Medici,  chap.  i.  p.  57. 

2  In  Vita  Cosmi. 


74  THE  MEDICI   AND 

revenge  upon  his  fellow-citizens,  which,  had  they  been 
carried  into  effect,  would  have  alienated  from  him  that 
sympathy  which  his  dignified  acceptance  of  the  situ- 
ation gradually  aroused.  During  his  stay  in  Venice 
Cosimo  received  several  visits  from  his  faithful  friend, 
Ambrogio  Traversari,  a  monk  of  the  Camaldolese 
monastery  near  Florence,  and  one  of  the  most  learned 
and  cultured  men  of  his  age.  From  the  letters  of 
Traversari,  still  extant,  we  note  that  Cosimo  bore  his 
misfortunes  with  calm  heroism,  expressing  on  every 
occasion  an  intense  love  for  his  native  place,  with  a 
desire  to  benefit  it  as  much  as  possible.1  His  banish- 
ment and  the  anxiety  of  this  period  materially  changed 
Cosimo's  character.  By  suffering  he  learned  nobility 
and  generosity  of  soul. 

As  far  as  his  further  connection  with  Florence  was 
concerned,  the  return  of  Cosimo  meant  the  total 
cessation  of  all  Filelfo's  relations,  either  official  or 
private,  with  the  university  or  even  with  the  city. 
He  retired  to  Siena,  where  he  did  not  cease  his  vile 
attacks  on  the  Medicean  circle,  but  where,  however,  he 
continued  to  receive  from  the  bitter  pen  of  Poggio  as 
severe  chastisement  as  he  meted  out.  After  four  years' 
stay  there  he  transferred  himself  to  Bologna ;  thence, 
at  the  invitation  of  Filippo  Maria  Yiscoiiti,  to  Milan, 
which  remained  his  headquarters  until  almost  the  year 
of  his  death,  though  he  paid  long  visits  to  Naples,  to 
Ferrara,  to  Mantua,  and  to  Rome.  Notwithstanding 
his  bitter  quarrel  with  the  Medici,  he  was  ultimately 
reconciled  to  Cosimo's  grandson  Lorenzo,  and  died  at  the 
age  of  eighty-three,  when  about  to  commence  the  duties 
of  the  chair  of  Greek  Literature  in  the  University  of 
1  Traversari,  Epistles,  bk.  viii.  ep.  53. 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  75 

Florence  (1481).     He  lies  buried  in  the  Church  of  the 
Annunciata  in  that  city. 

Symonds  regards  Filelfo  as  the  typical  Humanist  of 
his  age.  The  universality  of  his  acquirements  and 
the  impression  they  made  upon  contemporaries  were 
certainly  very  great.  He  had  a  highly  receptive 
intellect,  coupled  with  a  prodigious  memory,  and  these 
stood  him  in  good  stead.  His  contemporaries  real- 
ised that  he  had  mastered  the  entire  circle  of  the 
learning  of  the  ancient  world,  that  he  was  able  to 
explain  its  mysteries,  and  to  catch  some  stray  gleams 
at  least  of  its  glory.  A  genius  he  assuredly  was  not ! 
Of  profound  thought,  true  taste,  penetrative  criticism, 
or  delicate  fancy  he  knew  nothing.  His  service  to  his 
age  was  to  act  as  a  sort  of  "  importing  agent"  for 
ancient  literature.  He  brought  to  the  knowledge  of 
his  contemporaries  the  works  of  authors,  both  Latin 
and  Greek,  of  whose  writings,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten, 
they  had  never  heard,  or  if  they  had  heard  of  them, 
only  as  an  empty  name.  The  mass  of  his  editorial 
work  was  very  great,  as  he  translated  several  Greek 
authors  into  Latin  and  a  few  of  the  more  obscure 
Latin  writers  into  Italian.  His  original  work,  con- 
sisting mostly  of  satires,  epigrams,  and  a  colossal  Latin 
epic,  the  Sforziad,1  is  often  so  obscene  as  to  be  incapable 
of  being  read  without  disgust,  while  intellectually  it  is 
so  feeble  as  to  be  beneath  contempt.  The  venomous 
scurrility  to  which  he  descended  made  him  feared, 
while  the  belief  that  his  satires  were  assured  of  im- 

1  Which,  however,  was  unfinished,  although  it  reached  14,000  lines. 
It  was  an  attempt  to  celebrate  in  heroic  verse  the  achievements  of 
Francesco  Sforza,  who,  having  married  Bianca,  the  natural  daughter  of 
Filippo  Visconti,  succeeded  him  as  despot  or  Duke  of  Milan. 


76  THE  MEDICI   AND 

perishable  popularity  caused  many  to  submit  to  his 
insolence  to  escape  an  infamous  notoriety,  as  they 
thought,  in  his  "  eternal "  verse  !  Several  of  the  leading 
Italian  despots,  and  more  than  one  crowned  head,  were 
content  to  submit  to  this  Humanistic  "  blackmail,"  on 
condition  of  being  lauded  not  lampooned  in  "Filelfo's 
deathless  numbers."  Such  an  action  brought  its  own 
punishment.  Many  of  them  lived  to  see  Filelfo  and 
his  verse  the  butt  of  the  satirists  of  the  succeeding 
age,  when  Poliziano,  Landino,  and  Bembo  had  created 
a  standard  of  taste  and  of  Latinity  which  rendered 
Filelfo's  sprawling  numbers  "  barbaric  "  in  every  sense 
of  the  term.  He  was  a  typical  Humanist ! 

SECTION   4. — From  his  Exile  until  the  Treaty  of  Lodi 
POPE — Eugenius  iv.,  1431 ;  Nicholas  v.,  1447  ;  Calixtus,  1455 

Cosimo's  return  to  Florence  implied,  of  course,  the 
predominance  of  the  Medicean  faction  in  the  State. 
From  1434  to  1436  he  was  busy  formulating  and 
perfecting  that  political  system  by  which  in  the 
course  of  a  few  years  he  was  able  to  rule  Florence 
as  absolutely  as  any  of  the  avowed  despots  of  other 
Italian  towns.  Though  he  seldom  assumed  public 
office,  though  he  never  allowed  his  interference  with 
civic  procedure  to  become  visible,  none  the  less  no 
item  of  State  business  was  henceforth  transacted 
without  his  knowledge.  By  1436,  when  Cosimo  and 
Francesco  Sforza,  the  famous  Condottiere, — the  son- 
in-law,1  the  opponent,  and  the  successor  of  Filippo 

'  He  married  the  natural  daughter  of  the  Duke,  as  we  have  seen, 
although  he  commanded  the  troops  of  the  Republic  against  his  father- 
in-law  both  before  and  after  that  alliance. 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  77 

Maria  Visconti,  Duke  of  Milan,  —  cemented  their 
alliance,  the  subjection  of  the  Florentine  Republic 
was  beginning;  by  1441,  after  the  victory  of  Anghiari 
and  the  Peace  of  Cavriana,  concluded  between  Milan, 
Florence,  and  Venice,  it  was  complete.  Henceforward 
Cosimo's  friends  or  nominees — the  Pucci,  the  Pitti,  the 
Salviati,  Diotisalvi  Neroni,  Agnolo  Acciaiuoli,  and 
others — were  the  holders  of  all  the  official  posts  in 
connection  with  the  management  of  public  affairs. 
"  Government  by  cat's-paw "  was  instituted  without 
a  dissentient  voice,  and  for  over  twenty  years  was 
to  be  the  political  regime  of  Florence.  So  perfect  was 
the  machinery,  so  keen  and  constant  the  supervision 
exercised  by  Cosimo  himself,  and  so  faithful  the  agents 
he  employed  to  fulfil  his  orders  that,  in  his  lifetime 
at  least,  no  hitch  occurred,  and  Cosimo  was  left  to 
spin  his  political  webs  undisturbed. 

In  the  fifteenth  century  Venice,  to  use  a  familiar 
banking  term,  was  the  commercial  "clearing-house" 
of  the  world.  Thither  representatives  of  all  nations 
flocked,  certain  of  meeting  some  of  their  own  people 
there.  Filelfo's  remark  in  one  of  his  "  Satires,"  that 
a  stranger  standing  on  the  Rialto,  and  listening  to 
the  languages  spoken  on  all  sides  of  him,  might  be 
pardoned  for  supposing  he  had  been  transported  back 
to  the  confusion  of  tongues  at  the  Tower  of  Babel, 
was  scarcely  an  exaggeration.  As  the  mart  where 
the  Eastern  and  Western  worlds  met,  Venice  attracted 
to  her  a  population  more  cosmopolitan  than  local. 

During  his  stay  in  Venice  Cosimo  had  been  a  keen 
as  well  as  a  close  observer  of  the  men  and  manners 
of  the  society  whereinto  his  lot  was  cast.  He  noted 
the  increasing  interest  with  which,  even  at  that  early 


78  THE  MEDICI   AND 

period,  not  Italy  alone  but  Europe  as  well  was  begin- 
ning to  regard  the  progress  of  the  Renaissance.  From 
exile,  therefore,  he  returned  with  the  firm  conviction 
that  the  Revival  of  Letters  was  destined  to  become 
a  movement  of  greater  magnitude  than  either  he  or 
any  of  the  other  patrons  of  letters  in  Italy  had  cal- 
culated. Formerly  he  had  entertained  the  belief  that 
the  Renaissance  might  prove  only  another  of  those 
literary  "  fashions,"  fated,  like  so  many  ephemeral 
"  modes,"  to  disappear  and  be  forgotten.  When,  how- 
ever, in  addition  to  Venice,  he  had  visited  Ferrara, 
Padua,  Modena,  and  had  seen  that  the  "  depth "  as 
well  as  the  "  breadth "  of  the  enthusiasm  wherewith 
the  study  of  literature  was  regarded,  was  not  less 
there  than  in  Florence,  he  began  to  realise  that  he 
was  assisting  in  the  furtherance  of  a  movement, 
destined  to  influence  the  history  of  the  world,  to  a 
degree  hitherto  unprecedented. 

His  life  subsequent  to  his  return  from  exile  was 
directed  along  lines  different  altogether  from  those 
previously  affected  by  him.  Hitherto,  underrating  the 
radius  of  its  influence,  he  had  used  the  Renaissance 
to  assist  his  political  ends.  He  soon  realised  his 
mistake.  His  residence  in  other  cities  showed  him 
that  he  was  using  the  greater  influence  to  advance 
the  less.  Therefore  after  his  return,  and  when  his 
political  power  was  consolidated,  he  employed  it  for 
the  advancement  of  the  Renaissance,  in  place  of 
utilising  the  latter  for  the  extension  of  his  civic  rule. 

o 

Moreover,  he  gauged  the  future  of  the  movement 
much  more  accurately  than  many  of  his  contempor- 
aries. While  they  were  arguing  that  it  was  and 
would  remain  a  purely  Italian  outgrowth — nay,  even 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  79 

were  jealous  of  any  extension  of  its  benefits  to  the 
other  countries — Cosimo,  in  one  of  his  letters,  sti^- 

*  o 

matises  the  idea  as  selfish  and  provincial,  adding, 
"  You  might  as  well  try  to  control  the  stars  in  their 
courses  or  the  sea  in  its  tides  as  to  bind  the  Renaissance 
to  the  soil  of  Italy.  It  is  a  European  perhaps  a 
world-wide  influence." l 

Meantime  the  cultured  and  pacific  but  weakly 
vacillating  Eugenius  IV.  (Cardinal  Orsini)  had  suc- 
ceeded the  stern  old  autocrat  Martin  v.  The  new 
Pope,  ere  long,  was  not  only  at  war  with  his  pre- 
decessor's kinsmen,  the  Colonnas,  over  certain  appan- 
ages of  the  patrimony  of  St.  Peter,  alienated  by  Martin 
to  enrich  his  relatives,  but  he  was  at  enmity  with 
the  citizens  of  Rome  itself.  Wearied  by  the  ceaseless 
hostilities  which  devastated  the  surrounding  country, 
without  in  the  slightest  degree  concerning  them,  the 
burghers  of  the  Eternal  City  put  an  end  to  the 
temporal  power  for  the  time  being,  and  proclaimed 
a  Republic.  Eugenius  thereupon  fled  to  Florence  and 
besought  the  protection  of  that  State.  To  grant  it, 
and  to  welcome  the  pontiff  to  the  banks  of  the  Arno. 
were  among  the  last  actions  of  Rinaldo  degli  Albizzi 
before  his  exile.  Henceforward  Eugenius  abode  in 
Florence,  while  his  militant  legate,  Giovanni  Vitelleschi, 
with  ruthless  severity,  suppressed  all  opposition  to 
the  Holy  See  throughout  the  Papal  dominions. 

Eugenius  was  at  first  a  friend  and  supporter  of 
Rinaldo,  and  did  not  scruple  to  show  it.  On  a 
Signory  hostile  to  the  latter  being  elected,  which 
by  a  new  Balia  revoked  the  sentence  of  exile  against 
Cosimo,  Eugenius  pledged  his  word  to  secure  his 
'Gregoiovius,  bk.  xiii.  cap.  i. 


8o  THE  MEDICI  AND 

friend's  immunity  from  banishment  if  he  would  lay 
down  his  arms.  Even  the  powerful  papal  protection, 
however,  could  not  avert  the  sentence.  Rinaldo, 
the  scholarly  and  munificent  Palla  degli  Strozzi,  and 
certain  others  of  the  "  Ottimati,"  were  exiled  from 
their  native  city,  never  to  return.1 

But  the  banishment  of  his  friend  did  not  pre- 
vent Eugenius  from  forming  a  close  intimacy  with 
Cosimo  de'  Medici.  The  Pope  had  a  pet  scheme  for 
achieving  a  Union  between  the  Eastern  and  the 
Western  Churches.  Since  his  accession  to  the  papal 
chair  he  had  been  eagerly  working  for  that  end,  and 
of  late,  owing  to  the  dire  extremities  to  which  the 
Byzantine  Empire  and  Church  were  reduced  by  the 
activity  of  the  Turks,  with  a  fair  prospect  of  success. 
Such  a  Union,  he  argued,  would  reconstitute  the 
Papacy  on  the  basis  of  its  Apostolic  and  Constan- 
tinian  constitution,  when  the  See  of  Rome  was  the 
"  eye  of  the  entire  Christian  Church." 

The  idea  at  first  glance  seems  not  only  a  noble  one 
but  reasonably  feasible.  Did  it  not  imply  simply  a 
reversion  to  earlier  conditions  of  Church  government, 
and  if  achieved  would  it  not  for  ever  have  silenced 
the  taunts  of  the  Mohammedans  and  others,  who 
pointed  with  derision  to  the  divisions  among  the 
followers  of  the  so-called  "  Son  of  God "  ?  But,  on 
looking  deeper,  the  differences  were  found  to  be  not 
only  doctrinal  and  ritual,  but  also  racial  and  political. 
The  elements  comprising  the  Eastern  Church  were 
exceedingly  composite  in  character.  There  was  a 

1  Cf.  Strozzi,  Lettere  d'una  Gentildonna  Fiorentina  del  Seeolo  xv.  ai 
figliuoli  esulo ;  and  Documenti  di  Storia  Italiana — Commissioni  di 
Rinaldo  degli  Allizzi. 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  81 

large  Asiatic  admixture,  and  the  Emperor  of  Con- 
stantinople was  in  some  respects  head  both  of  Church 
and  State.1  When  the  matter  came  to  be  examined 
the  differences  between  the  two  communions  were 
found  greatly  to  outnumber  the  similarities.  Eugenius, 
however,  was  not  to  be  daunted.  He  wished  to  secure 
as  one  of  his  advocates  the  eloquent  Ambrogio  Traver- 
sari,  of  the  Camaldolese  Monastery,  Florence,  a  leading 
member  of  the  Medicean  circle,  and,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  the  Renaissance 
scholars.  To  obtain  the  help  of  Traversari  he  had 
first  to  win  over  Cosimo;  hence  the  rapidity  where- 
with he  formed  his  new  relations  with  the  latter, 
almost  before  his  former  ones  with  Rinaldo  were 
broken  off.  But,  in  the  troubled  state  of  Italy  at 
the  time,  it  was  politic,  to  say  the  least,  to  be  on 
friendly  terms  with  the  banker-ruler  of  Florence. 

Though,  as  we  see  from  contemporary  testimony,2 
Cosimo  appraised  at  its  true  value  the  sudden  friend- 
ship of  the  pontiff,  yet  he  found  it  convenient  to 
humour  him.  He  never  trusted  his  policy,  though 
he  revered  the  private  character  of  the  man,  and  his 
prevision  was  justified  when  Eugenius  some  years 
after  deserted  the  alliance  of  Venice  and  Florence 
for  that  of  Alfonso  of  Naples  and  Filippo  Maria 
Visconti  of  Milan.  The  immediate  end,  however, 
of  the  Pope  was  gained.  He  declared  himself  a 
friend  of  the  "  New  Learning  " ;  the  word  accordingly 
was  passed  round  that  Eugenius  was  to  receive  all 
possible  assistance  from  the  Medicean  party  in  realising 
his  scheme. 

1  See  Oman's  admirable  work,  The  Byzantine  Empire. 

2  Letters  of  Traversari. 
6 


82  THE  MEDICI   AND 

Cosimo  was  not  so  short-sighted  a  diplomatist  to 
concede  this  favour  without  a  quid  pro  quo.  Florence 
and  Venice  were  then  fighting  with  Filippo  Visconti  of 
Milan.  The  Pope,  though  hitherto  a  staunch  supporter 
of  the  Florentine  -  Venetian  alliance,  had,  through 
his  legate  Vitelleschi,  been  recently  manifesting  a 
desire  to  coquette  with  Piccinino,  the  Milanese  general. 
Cosimo  therefore  felt  that  if  he  could  induce  Eugenius 
to  prorogue  the  Council  from  Ferrara — where  it  was 
even  then  assembling — to  Florence,  a  great  proof 
would  be  given  to  the  world  of  the  unity  of  interests 
characterising  the  Papacy  and  Florence. 

Eugenius  consented,  on  the  grounds,  first,  that  the 
plague  had  broken  out  in  Ferrara ;  and,  second,  that 
Florence  would  prove  more  convenient  as  a  meeting- 
place  for  their  Eastern  visitors.  Cosimo  accordingly 
prepared  to  play  the  host  for  the  whole  of  Florence. 
The  holding  of  this  (Ecumenical  Council  on  the  banks 
of  the  Arno  in  the  year  1439  marks  an  epoch  in  the 
history  of  the  Renaissance.  The  Byzantine  emperor, 
John  Palaeologus  vi.,  in  company  wdth  his  brother 
Demetrius,  the  aged  Patriarch  Joseph,  and  the  Bishops 
Marcus  Eugenikos  of  Ephesus,  Isidore  of  Russia,  Bes- 
sarion  of  Nicsea  (afterwards  Cardinal  in  the  Western 
Church  and  a  notable  Humanist),  the  great  Platonist 
Gemisthus  Pletho,  and  many  others  of  note  both  for 
learning  and  piety,  came  from  Ferrara  in  the  train 
of  the  Pope.1  To  assert  that  these  Eastern  visitors 
were  at  all  enthusiastic  on  the  subject  of  Union  is  a 
distortion  of  the  facts.  They  yielded  to  dire  necessity, 
in  the  hope  that  their  concessions  would  enlist  the 

1  Machiavelli,  History  of  Florence,  bk.  v.  ;  Gino  Capponi,  Storia  dclla 
RqniUica  di  Firenze. 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  83 

help  of  the  Western  Powers  against  the  Turks.     Machi- 
avelli  with  his  grim  humour  says — 

"  Though  it  was  derogatory  to  the  emperor,  and  contrary 
to  the  pride  of  his  prelates,  to  yield  in  anything  to  the 
Komans,  yet  the  Turks  lying  heavy  upon  them,  and  fearing 
that  of  themselves  they  might  not  be  able  to  resist  them, 
that  they  might  with  the  more  confidence  and  security  desire 
relief  from  other  people,  they  resolved  to  comply  with  the 
Pope's  conditions." 

Gregorovius  relates  with  much  sympathetic  pathos 
the  trials  of  the  luckless  Byzantines — 

"  After  tedious  disputes  the  Byzantine  theologians,  in  fear, 
not  of  St.  Peter  but  of  Mohammed,  laid  down  those  arms 
which  Photius  and  his  successors  had  borne  for  more  than 
five  hundred  years.  On  June  3  they  acknowledged  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  proceeded  from  the  Father  and  the  Son ;  that  the 
body  of  Christ  was  transmuted  into  leavened  as  well  as 
unleavened  bread ;  that  the  souls  of  believers  were  cleansed 
in  purgatory,  while  those  of  unpenitent  sinners  went  straight 
to  hell.  .  .  .  These  childish  dogmas  only  veiled  the  real 
basis  of  the  great  schism.  This  was  the  absolute  supremacy 
of  the  Pope,  a  principle  which,  as  well  as  the  entire  Gregorian- 
Thomistic  system  of  Western  papal  authority,  the  Greeks 
detested.  They  despised  the  fabrications  of  the  pseudo- 
Isidorian  Decretals ;  their  conscience  revolted  at  the  thought 
of  conceiving  the  '  Roman  patriarch '  as  monarch  and  ruler 
of  the  bishops ;  but  in  the  extremity  of  despair  they  at 
length  pronounced  the  Pope  the  representative  of  Christ  and 
chief  Head  of  the  entire  Church."  l 

Florence  treated  the  strangers  right  royally.     Cosimo 

1  Gregorovius,  vol.  vii.  pt.  i.;  Pichler,  Gcschichte  der  kirchlichen 
Trennung  zwischen  dem  Orient  und  Occident,  i.  253. 


84  THE  MEDICI   AND 

was  a  magnificent  host,  and  the  representatives  of  the 
Eastern  Church  returned  to  Constantinople  deeply 
impressed  by  the  splendid  generosity  of  the  great 
banker-statesman.  He  had  also  shown  himself  in 
his  most  attractive  moods,  as  the  cultured  Renaissance 
patron,  whose  studies  had  been  pursued  sufficiently 
far  to  enable  him  to  detect  a  true  Hellenic  scholar 
from  a  sciolist.  Then  the  treasures  of  his  exquisite 
villa  at  Careggi,  as  well  as  those  of  the  Palazzo  Medici 
in  the  Via  Larga,  were  exhibited  before  them  until 
Gemisthus  Pletho  lifted  up  his  hands  and  cried :  "  If 
Hellenism  dies  in  Byzantium  it  will  live  again  in 
Florence." l 

The  effect,  however,  produced  on  the  Florentines  by 
these  mysterious  "  hierophants  "  of  a  dying  cause,  was 
even  greater  than  the  reciprocal  influence  exercised  by 
the  citizens  on  their  visitors.  The  flower  of  Hellenic 
culture  was  now  before  the  learning-loving  citizens  of 
the  Tuscan  Republic.  In  Bessarion,  but  more  especi- 
ally in  Bessarion's  teacher  and  friend  Gemisthus,  they 
beheld  a  Platonist  who,  if  more  Neo-Platonic  than 
Platonic  in  his  system,  yet  retained  enough  of  the  pure 
gospel  of  him  of  Academe  to  unfold  to  the  wondering 
gaze  of  the  Medicean  circle,  and  the  scholarly  section  of 
the  Florentine  citizens,  the  marvels  of  the  philosophy 
of  Grecian  Idealism.  The  Florentines  were  just  then 
in  the  first  flush  of  their  passion  for  the  study  of 
Greek.  Plato  was  worshipped  as  an  unknown  sun 
whose  rising  would  dispel  the  mists  of  Scholastic 
philosophy.  Regarding  this,  Symonds  incisively  says  : 
"  Men  were  thirsting  for  the  philosophy  that  had  the 
charm  of  poetry,  that  delighted  the  imagination  while 
1  Voigt,  pp.  202-204  ;  Enea  Sylvio,  i.  91-99. 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  85 

it  fortified  the  understanding,  and  that  lent  its  glamour 
to  the  dreams  and  yearnings  of  a  youthful  age." l 

Gemisthus  was  deeply  read  in  all  varieties  of 
mysticism — Platonic,  Pythagorean,  and  Alexandrian, 
and  to  the  Florentines  he  poured  forth  his  treasures  of 
Grecian  philosophic  learning  with  no  niggard  hand. 
When  Filelfo  had  been  amongst  them  eight  or  ten 
years  before,  they  had  at  first  almost  worshipped  the 
man,  until  his  arrogance  rendered  him  contemptible. 
Here,  however,  was  a  genuine  Greek  scholar,  more 
learned  even  in  some  respects  than  Filelfo,  gifted  with 
the  eloquence  of  the  gods,  and  besides,  as  humble  as 
Filelfo  was  self-sufficient.  Little  wonder,  then,  that  in 
Florence,  and  more  particularly  by  the  Medicean  circle, 
he  was  treated  with  a  reverential  affection  that  caused 
him  during  the  remainder  of  his  life  to  say,  "  Florence 
is  the  Athens  of  modern  Europe." 2 

He  found  there  the  same  delight  in  antiquity  as  was 
cherished  by  himself.  Nor  was  that  delight  the  senti- 
ment only  of  the  few.  Since  the  days  of  Manuel 
Chrysoloras,  thanks  to  the  intelligent  cultivation  of 
the  "  New  Learning "  by  Palla  degli  Strozzi,  Coluccio 
de'  Salutato,  Lionardo  Bruni,  Poggio,  Marsuppini, 
Gianozzo  Manetti,  Ambrogio  Traversari,  and  others, 
in  conjunction  with  Cosimo's  princely  munificence  in 
everything  where  a  diffusion  of  the  benefits  of  culture 
was  concerned,  few  indeed  were  the  schemes  for  the 
advancement  of  learning  which,  if  not  initiated  in 
Florence,  did  not  look  to  the  Tuscan  Republic  for  help 
in  carrying  them  out.  The  band  of  scholars  who  at 

1  Symonds,  Renaissance,  vol.  ii.  p.   149  ;  jEneas  Sylvius,  Comment., 
pp.  180-185. 

2  Poggio,  De  Varietate  Fortunes. 


86  THE  MEDICI   AND 

that  time  claimed  Florence  as  their  "  Mother  City," 
whether  by  birth  or  by  adoption,  included  the  names 
of  several  of  the  most  brilliant  men  in  Italy.  Almost 
without  exception  they  belonged  to  the  Medicean  circle. 
Soon  after  his  return  from  exile  Cosimo  set  himself  to 
enlarge  his  villa  of  Careggi,  situated  about  four  miles 
from  Florence,  and  to  enrich  it  with  those  treasures  of 
antiquity  he  had  been  able  to  acquire.  Both  here  and 
at  the  Medicean  palace  in  the  Via  Larga  he  entertained 
at  an  open  board,  to  which  they  were  always  made 
welcome,  all  the  leading  Florentine  scholars  of  his  age, 
as  well  as  any  wandering  illuminati  who  chanced  to 
visit  the  city.  To  all  he  was  the  princely  patron. 
Once  establish  relations  of  friendship  with  Cosimo,  and 
he  was  thereafter  to  be  relied  upon  under  all  circum- 
stances. Many  of  the  Humanists  could  never  have 
supported  themselves  had  it  not  been  for  his  bounty, — 
as  witness  the  case  of  Thomas  of  Sarzana,  afterwards 
Nicholas  v.  Apart  from  his  personal  interest  in  the 
Renaissance,  the  individual  interest  he  showed  in  each 
of  the  great  Florentine  scholars  was  one  of  the  methods 
whereby  he  influenced  his  age  and  fostered  the  Renais- 
sance. 

Each  of  these  Florentine  scholars  left  his  mark  upon 
the  epoch  wherein  he  flourished.  Not  one  of  them  but 
has  paid  the  highest  of  tributes  to  Cosimo's  munificent 
patronage.  Nay,  in  the  case  of  his  opponents  and 
enemies,  even  when  condemning  the  selfishness  of  his 
"  home  "  and  the  dangers  of  his  "  foreign  "  policy,  they 
have  in  nearly  every  instance,  added,  in  the  words  of 
Rinaldo  degli  Albizzi  himself,  some  such  testimony  as 
this :  "  As  a  patron  of  the  '  New  Learning '  he  largely 
made  Florentine  scholarship  what  it  became." 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  87 

A  case  in  point  will  serve  to  exemplify  this.  Among 
the  Florentine  Humanists  there  was  none  for  whom 
Cosimo  entertained  a  warmer  esteem  than  Niccol6  de' 
Niccoli.1  Dr.  Schaff  styles  him  Cosimo's  "literary 
minister,"  while  Miss  Dorothea  Ewart  applies  the 
happier  epithet  to  him,  "  Florentine  Minister  for 
Literature  and  Education."  Though  twenty-five  years 
older  than  Cosimo,  he  became  first  the  director  of  his 
studies  and  then  his  most  intimate  friend.  Born  in 
1364,  and  dying  in  1437,  his  life  accordingly  covers 
the  seed-time  of  the  Renaissance.  Than  he,  no  one 
was  a  more  diligent  or  discriminating  sower  of  the 
precious  seeds  of  culture.  Stimulated  by  the  example 
of  his  teacher  Marsigli,  he  devoted  himself  from  early 
years  to  the  study,  first  of  such  Latin  classics  as  were 
then  available,  and  then  to  the  Greek.  In  the  Hellenic 
language  and  literature,  however,  he  never  became  so 
great  a  proficient  as  in  Latin,  but  despite  this  fact  he 
was  an  indefatigable  collector  of  all  relics  of  antiquity. 
The  fact  is  to  be  regretted  that  he  wrote  nothing,  as 
his  exquisite  critical  taste  and  wide  learning  would 
have  qualified  him  to  speak  with  authority  on  many 
subjects.  His  extreme  fastidiousness  and  despair  at 
realising  his  own  ideal  in  composition,  prevented  him, 
as  Poggio  and  Traversari  inform  us,  from  contributing 
aught  to  Renaissance  literature.  He  was  the  greatest 
living  authority  on  MSS.  (says  Van  Dyk),  with  an 
infallible  eye  for  an  old  codex.  He  never  married, 
because  he  knew  that  if  he  had  a  wife  he  must  give  up 
collecting  books.  But  he  consoled  himself  over  his 

1  Of.  Life  by  Vespasiano  ;  Poggio's  Funeral  Oration  on  him  ;  also 
Van  Dyk's  Renascence,  p.  126  ;  Dorothea  Ewart's  Cosimo  de'  Medici, 
p.  219  ;  Dr.  Philip  Schaff's  Renaissance,  p.  34. 


88  THE  MEDICI  AND 

celibacy  by  forming  out  of  his  moderate  income  the 
best  library  in  Florence — 800  MSS.,  all  rare,  some  of 
them  unique,  and  many  copied  in  his  own  exquisitely 
clear  caligraphy. 

Cosimo  was  fortunately  able  to  assist  him  without 
hurting  the  peppery  old  gentleman's  pride.  Though 
inheriting  a  considerable  patrimony,  Niccolo  had  ex- 
pended it  all,  long  before  his  death,  in  the  purchase  of 
books  and  MSS.  "If  he  heard  of  any  book"  (says 
Vespasiano)  "  in  Greek  or  Latin,  not  to  be  had  in 
Florence,  he  spared  no  cost  in  getting  it ;  the  number 
of  the  Latin  books  which  Florence  owes  entirely  to  his 
generosity  cannot  be  reckoned."  On  the  fact  becoming 
known  to  Cosimo  that  Niccoli  was  practically  penni- 
less, he  sent  for  the  old  man  and  made  the  following 

o 

proposal  to  him, — that  he  would  be  allowed  to  draw 
upon  the  Medicean  bank  for  any  sum  he  pleased,  pro- 
vided that  at  his  death,  he  left  his  library  to  a  body 
of  trustees  011  behoof  of  the  Florentine  Republic.  By 
this  means  Cosimo  was  enabled  to  help  the  old  scholar 
without  offending  his  independence. 

During  his  life  Niccoli  had  virtually  made  his 
library  a  public  institution  by  throwing  its  treasures 
open,  with  rare  generosity,  to  all  who  chose  to  go  there 
to  read.  In  some  instances  he  even  lent  out  the  books 
as  well.  When  the  bequest  became  available  the 
trustees  found  that  Niccoli  had  contracted  some  debts 
which  were  secured  upon  the  library.  These  "  liens  " 
Cosimo  undertook  to  discharge  if  the  books  were  made 

o 

over  to  him.  To  this  the  other  trustees  cordially 
assented.  The  great  Humanist,  Bishop  Tommaso 
Parentucelli — afterwards  Nicholas  v. — drew  up  a  cata- 
logue of  the  volumes,  after  which  Cosimo  appropriately 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  89 

housed  them  in  the  building  known  as  "  the  Library 
of  San  Marco,"  in  the  conventual  establishment  of  that 
name.1 

The  critical  judgment  of  Niccoli  was  so  keen  and 
refined  that  by  universal  .consent  he  was  regarded  in 
Florence  as  its  literary  dictator,  to  whom  men  like 
Lionardo  Bruni  were  glad  to  submit  their  works  for 
revision.  His  house  was  filled  with  objects  of  anti- 
quarian interest  which  he  had  gathered  from  all  parts 
of  Italy  and  Greece  —  marbles,  vases,  inscriptions, 
statuary,  coins,  and  engraved  gems ;  and  nothing  de- 
lighted him  more  than  to  expatiate  on  them  to  the 
youth  of  Florence. 

Vespasiano's  picture  of  the  grand  old  Humanist  is 
so  lifelike  that  we  cannot  do  better  than  give  it  here, 
using  the  admirable  translation  of  Symonds — 

"  First  of  all,  he  was  of  a  most  fair  presence ;  lively,  for  a 
smile  was  ever  on  his  lips  ;  and  very  pleasant  in  his  talk. 
He  wore  clothes  of  the  fairest  crimson  cloth  down  to  the 
ground.  He  never  married,  in  order  that  lie  might  not  be 
impeded  in  his  studies.  A  housekeeper  provided  for  his 
daily  needs.  He  was  above  all  men  the  most  cleanly  in 
eating,  as  also  in  all  other  things.  When  he  sat  at  table  he 
ate  from  fair  antique  vases ;  and  in  like  manner  all  his  table 
was  covered  with  porcelain  and  other  vessels  of  great  beauty. 
The  cup  from  which  he  drank  was  of  crystal  or  of  some  other 
precious  stone.  To  see  him  at  table — a  perfect  model  of  the 
men  of  old — was  of  a  truth  a  charming  sight.  He  always 
willed  that  the  napkins  set  before  him  should  be  of  the 
whitest,  as  well  as  all  the  linen.  Some  might  wonder  at  the 

1  This  collection,  along  with  that  presented  by  Cosimo  to  the  Convent 
of  Fiesole,  and  his  own  private  library,  constitute  the  oldest  portion  of 
the  present  Laurentian  Library  in  Florence. 


90  THE  MEDICI   AND 

many  vases  he  possessed,  to  whom  I  would  answer  that  things 
of  that  sort  were  neither  so  highly  valued  then  nor  so  much 
regarded  as  they  have  become  since ;  and  Niccolo,  having 
friends  everywhere,  anyone  who  wished  to  do  him  a  pleasure 
would  send  him  marble  statues,  or  antique  vases,  carvings, 
inscriptions,  pictures  from  the  hands  of  distinguished  masters, 
and  Mosaic  tablets." 

NiccoM  de'  Niccoli's  special  services  to  the  Renais- 
sance consisted  in  the  encouragement  he  extended  to 
such  teachers  as  Chrysoloras,  Guarino,  Aurispa,  and 
Filelfo  to  visit  Florence  and  lecture  on  the  classical 
texts ;  also  in  generously  making  all  scholars  free  of 
his  library  and  collection  of  antiques.  His  moral  life, 
however,  was  far  from  irreproachable,  nor  were  his 
religious  opinions  lifted  much  above  paganism.  In 
both  these  respects,  however,  he  was  no  worse  than 
many  of  his  fellow-Humanists.  Like  Filelfo,  he  was  a 
typical  son  of  the  Renaissance  ! 

The  association  of  Cosimo  with  Humanism  and  the 
Humanists  may  be  said  to  fall  naturally  into  three 
great  periods.  The  earliest  lasted  from  the  outset  of 
his  education  under  Salutato,  Guarino,  Gasparino  da 
Barziza,  and  others,  to  the  date  of  his  banishment,  an 
epoch  of  academic  study  and  mental  fertilisation.  The 
middle  period  lasted  from  his  return  from  exile  in  1434 
to  the  Treaty  of  Lodi  in  1455,  a  period  when  his  taste 
was  gradually  being  matured,  as  his  learning  and  his 
culture  acquired  depth  and  breadth,  and  when  he 
sought  to  gather  round  him  all  the  most  prominent 
classical  scholars,  sculptors,  painters,  architects,  and 
men  of  letters,  that  he  might  encourage  them  to 
popularise  the  results  of  Renaissance  genius.  Finally 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE  91 

came  the  last  epoch,  extending  from  the  Treaty  of 
Lodi  to  the  date  of  his  death  in  1464,  a  period  wherein 
he  endeavoured  to  consolidate  Humanism  by  encourag- 
ing the  formation  of  academies,  such  as  the  Platonic 
Academy  of  Florence,  which  was  the  model  of  that 
in  Rome  founded  by  Pomponius  Lsetus,  and  the  Nea- 
politan one,  first  started  by  Beccadelli,  but  formally 
constituted  by  Jovianus  Pontanus. 

Of  these  periods,  the  first  was  largely  his  intellec- 
tual seedtime.  Towards  its  conclusion  the  services 
he  rendered  to  the  cause  of  letters,  through  his 
agents  and  friends  disinterring  and  copying  at  his 
cost  the  earliest  MSS.,  were  of  the  greatest  value. 
But  the  two  later  epochs  were  richer  in  far-reaching 
results  as  regards  the  patronage  of  letters,  results 
which  attained  their  climax  in  his  latest  epoch,  when, 
his  political  anxieties  over,  he  could  devote  himself 
unreservedly  to  the  cultivation  and  fostering  of  letters. 

Of  the  Medici  it  was  their  greatest  gift,  as  it  was 
their  greatest  glory,  that  they  could  sympathise  with, 
and  by  sympathising  encourage  and  evoke,  the  hidden 
genius  of  these  master-minds.  Cosimo  possessed  this 
power  in  rich  measure ;  his  grandson,  Lorenzo  the 
Magnificent,  in  measure  still  richer.  The  former, 
however,  never  manifested  the  marvellous  sympathetic 
affinity  with  all  the  varied  phases  of  culture  and  the 
arts  characteristic  of  Lorenzo.  In  that  lay  the  essential 
difference  between  the  mind  of  Cosimo  and  that  of 
Lorenzo — in  a  word,  between  sympathy  and  affinity ! 

Humanistic  culture  in  Florence  had  flourished 
luxuriantly  during  the  first  three-and-thirty  years  of 
the  fifteenth  century.  From  the  exile  of  Cosimo  in 
that  year  until  the  Treaty  of  Lodi  in  1455  it  had  been 


92  THE  MEDICI   AND 

somewhat  checked  by  the  wars  and  social  unrest  dis- 
tinguishing that  period  of  Florentine  history.  Cosimo 
was  at  that  time  weaning  his  fellow-citizens  from  their 
traditional  policy  of  a  league  with  Venice  against 
Milan,  to  his  new  scheme  of  a  league  with  Milan 
against  Venice,  the  great  commercial  and  financial 
rival  of  Florence  in  the  markets  of  the  world.  When, 
therefore,  the  Treaty  of  Lodi  brought  a  prolonged 
peace  as  its  result,  Humanistic  studies  again  received  a 
fillip.  The  great  classical  authors  were  read  and  com- 
mented upon  by  scholars  of  the  first  rank.  The  science 
of  Textual  criticism  took  its  rise  in  its  two  branches  of 
Recension,  or  comparing  the  various  codices,  and  Her- 
meneutics,  or  explaining  the  meaning  of  the  text.  The 
labours  of  Niccoli  in  this  direction  were  invaluable,  and 
he  may  be  styled  the  "  Father  of  Comparative  Criticism." 
When  he  died  he  bequeathed  his  methods  to  a  group 
of  scholars,  all  of  whom  belonged  to  the  Medicean 
circle  and  regarded  Cosimo  as  their  patron.  The 
munificence  of  the  latter  in  providing  the  stately 
Marcian  Library  for  Niccoli's  collection,  his  interest  in 
the  project  of  founding  a  public  library  of  the  kind, 
and  his  commissions  to  Ciriaco  of  Ancona 1  to  scour 
Europe  in  search  of  MSS.,  all  evince  the  depth  and 
sincerity  of  his  Renaissance  sympathies.  The  group  of 
scholars  associated  with  the  two  earlier  periods  of 
Cosimo's  life,  and  whom  he  gathered  around  him  at  his 
table,  whether  at  the  Palazzo  Medici  or  at  his  villa  at 
Careggi,  was  a  remarkable  one. 

1  Ciriaco  de'  Pizzicolli.  He  wandered  over  every  part  of  Italy, 
Greece,  and  the  Greek  Islands,  collecting  medals,  gems,  fragments  of 
sculpture,  buying  MSS.,  transcribing  records,  and  amassing  a  vast  store 
of  archaeological  knowledge. 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  93 

One  of  the  chief  ornaments  of  the  Medicean  circle 
during  the  two  earlier  periods  of  Cosimo's  life  was 
Lionardi  Bnini  (1369-1443),  Chancellor  of  the  Re- 
public. He  was  born,  like  more  than  one  of  his  brother 
Humanists,  at  Arezzo,  and  early  became  imbued  with 
a  love  of  learning  through  reading  of  the  efforts  of 
Petrarch  to  arouse  enthusiasm  in  the  classics.  He 
began  the  study  of  law,  but  Coluccio  Salutato,  then 
Chancellor  of  Florence,  impressed  by  his  remarkable 
talents,  advised  him  to  devote  himself  to  letters,  and 
assisted  him  with  the  fee  entitling  him  to  attend  the 
lectures  of  Chrysoloras.  The  youthful  imagination 
became  inflamed  with  emulation  as  the  great  Hellenist 
unfolded  his  classic  treasures  before  his  enraptured 
audience.  Law  was  thrown  to  the  winds,  and  Lionardi 
devoted  himself  to  the  cultivation  of  a  pure  Latin  style 
in  order  that  he  might  follow  in  the  path  opened  up 
by  Salutato.  The  latter,  by  the  exquisite  Latin  prose 
in  which  all  his  official  and  diplomatic  papers  were 
couched,  had  made  it  a  sine  qua  non  that  if  a  man  would 
occupy  the  position  of  State  or  Papal  Secretary  in  any 
of  the  Italian  Republics  or  the  Roman  Curia,  he  must 
have  command  of  a  correct  and  graceful  Latin  style, — 
that  being,  in  Italy  at  least,  the  language  of  politics  as 
of  scholarship.  An  immense  field  of  employment  was 
thus  thrown  open  to  the  Humanists.  Bruni's  reputa- 
tion as  a  Latinist  spread.  Through  Salutato's  influence 
he  was  appointed  Apostolic  Secretary  to  the  Roman 
Curia  by  the  notorious  John  xxin.,  lost  the  office  for  a 
time  after  the  deposition  of  the  latter  by  the  Council 
of  Constance,  was  reappointed  by  Martin  v.,  and 
retained  it  until  his  election  as  Chancellor  of  the 
Republic  of  Florence  in  1427.  Till  his  death  in  1443 


94  THE  MEDICI   AND 

he  held  this  important  position,  filling  it  with  honour 
alike  to  himself  and  the  Republic.  Personally  a  man 
of  imposing  presence  and  dignified  manners,  he  dearly 
loved  pomp  and  display.  As  Vespasiano  informs  us, 
he  was  always  followed  when  he  walked  abroad  by  a 
train  of  scholars  and  foreign  visitors.1  The  State 
papers  he  wrote  were  models  of  Latinity,  while  his 
public  speeches  were  frequently  likened  to  those  of 
Pericles.  His  literary  activity  was  extraordinary. 
The  History  of  Florence  which  bears  his  name, 
though  now  forgotten,  was  in  its  day  compared  with 
Livy's  History,  upon  which  the  author  had  modelled 
himself,  and  whose  "  Second  Decade"  he  had  the  temerity 
to  attempt  to  restore.  His  other  works  were  a  history 
of  the  Gothic  invasion  of  Italy,  Lives  of  Cicero  and 
Aristotle,  Commentaries  on  his  own  times,  and  several 
volumes  of  Collected  Letters.  It  was  as  a  translator 
from  the  Greek,  however,  that  his  great  Renaissance 
services  were  rendered.  To  his  industry  the  fifteenth 
century  owed  Aristotle's  Ethics,  Politics,  and  Econo- 
mics]'2' Plato's  Phcedo,  Crito,  Apology,  Phcedrus,  the 
Gorgias,  along  with  the  Epistles ;  six  Lives  of  Plutarch, 
and  two  "  Orations  "  of  Demosthenes.  In  addition  to 
these  he  wrote  satires,  essays,  controversial  treatises, 
philippics,  and  tracts  on  literary  and  antiquarian  topics ; 
also,  in  Italian,  the  Lives  of  Dante  and  Petrarch.  He 
was  at  once  one  of  the  most  learned,  the  most  intellectual, 
and  the  most  versatile  of  the  earlier  Humanists.  Though 
his  Latin  style  is  now  held  in  little  estimation,  being 
turgid,  bombastic,  and  loaded  with  tawdry  and  meretri- 
cious ornament,  in  its  day  it  was  regarded  as  well-nigh 

1  Cf.  Gregorovius,  bk.  xiii.  cap.  vi.  p.  563. 

2  Then  thought  genuine. 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  95 

classic.  To  Bruni,  the  Renaissance  owed  much  for  his 
eager  industry  in  diffusing  the  benefits  of  the  new 
culture,  and  for  identifying  the  civic  authorities  of 
Florence  with  the  patronage  of  letters. 

Ambrogio  Traversari  (1386-1439)  was  another 
member  of  the  Medicean  circle  in  the  days  of  Cosimo. 
Born  in  Romagna,  and  in  the  eighth  year  of  his  age 
placed  in  the  Convent  degli  Angeli  in  Florence,  he 
early  gave  promise  of  talents  of  a  superior  order. 
He  was  amongst  the  first  pupils  of  Chrysoloras,  and 
eventually  became  one  of  the  greatest  scholars  of  his 
time,  his  mastery  over  Greek  rivalling  that  of  Filelfo. 
To  wide  learning  he  united  great  force  of  character, 
keen  dialectic  subtility,  and  persuasive  eloquenca 
Eugenius  iv.  admired  him  so  profoundly  that  he  made 
him  General  of  the  Camaldolese  Order  in  1431,  and 
entrusted  the  representation  of  the  case  of  the  Western 
Church  largely  to  him  during  the  negotiations  for  Union 
between  the  Greek  and  Roman  communions.  His  cell 
was  the  meeting-place  of  all  the  learned  men  in  Flor- 
ence, and  he  kept  up  correspondence  with  scholars  all 
over  Europe.  His  devout  piety  led  him  to  refuse  to 
undertake  any  literary  work  of  a  secular  character 
save  the  translation  of  Diogenes  Laertius,  but  he 
translated  many  portions  of  the  Greek  Fathers,  and 
was  also  acquainted  with  Hebrew.  His  influence  on 
behalf  of  the  Renaissance  was  largely  exercised  through 
others,  either  by  encouraging  them  to  prosecute  their 
studies  according  to  the  methods  of  the  "  New  Learn- 
ing," or  by  revising  their  work  after  completion.  The 
correspondence,  however,  which  he  maintained  with 
scholars  has  been  preserved  and  collected.  Under  the 
title  Epistolcv  Ambrogii  Traversari  it  furnishes  us 


96  THE  MEDICI   AND 

with  the  most  vivid  pictures  of  the  social  and  literary 
life  of  the  Renaissance  epoch,  and  with  many  useful 
facts  regarding  Cosimo's  policy  and  aims. 

Carlo  Marsuppini  of  Arezzo  —  hence  called  Carlo 
Aretino — came  to  Florence  wliile  a  youth  to  study 
Greek.  His  abilities  attracted  the  attention  of  Niccol<5 
de'  Niccoli,  who  introduced  him  to  Cosimo,  by  whose 
influence  he  was  appointed  lecturer  at  the  "Uffiziali 
dello  Studio." 

"At  the  time  he  began  to  lecture  Eugenius  was  holding 
his  Court  in  Florence,  and  the  cardinals  and  nephews  of 
the  Pope,  attended  by  foreign  ambassadors  and  followed  by 
the  apostolic  secretaries,  mingled  with  burghers  and  students 
from  a  distance  round  the  desk  of  the  young  scholar.  Carlo's 
reading  was  known  to  be  extensive,  and  his  memory  was  cele- 
brated as  prodigious.  Yet  on  this  occasion  of  his  first  lecture 
he  surpassed  all  that  was  expected  of  him,  for  neither  Greeks 
nor  Romans  had  an  author  from  which  he  did  not  quote." l 

Filelfo,  who  was  lecturing  in  Florence  at  the  time, 
had  the  mortification  of  seeing  his  benches  empty, 
while  Marsuppini's  could  not  accommodate  all  who 
desired  to  be  present.  Carlo  was  grave  and  silent  in 
manner,  with  a  tinge  of  melancholy  in  his  nature.  A 
pure  pagan  as  regards  religious  beliefs,  he  ridiculed 
the  Christian  faith  and  died  without  the  rites  of 
the  Church.  His  writings  were  mostly  annotations 
upon  the  classical  authors,  and  have  not  been  pre- 
served. He  wrote  much  in  verse,  into  which  he 
translated  the  BatrachomyomacJua  of  Homer  and 
the  first  book  of  the  Iliad.  His  services  to  the 
Renaissance  were  rendered  chiefly  through  teaching 
and  lecturing;  but  after  he  had  succeeded  Bruni  as, 
1  Vespasiano's  Vita  di  Carlo  d'  Arezzo,  condensed  by  Symonds. 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE  97 

Chancellor  of  Florence  in  1443,  he  employed  several 
copyists  constantly  transcribing  rare  texts  for  scholars, 
to  whom  he  presented  them  as  gifts.  In  this  way  he 
did  great  good  to  the  cause  of  letters. 

Gianozzo  Manetti  was  second  to  none  of  the  Floren- 
tine Humanists  in  scholarship  and  culture.  During 
the  first  twenty-five  years  of  life  he  was  trained  to 
mercantile  pursuits,  but  at  length  he  threw  off  parental 
control  that  he  might  devote  himself  entirely  to  study 
and  literature.  So  obstinate  was  his  industry  in  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge  that  he  allowed  himself  only 
five  hours  of  sleep,  and  spent  the  rest  of  his  day  in 
study.  In  Greek  and  Latin  he  soon  placed  himself  in 
the  first  rank  of  Florentine  scholarship,  afterwards 
adding  Hebrew  to  his  repertory  of  languages ;  and  he 
employed  his  great  learning  in  the  service  of  the 
Church,  demolishing  the  philological  foundation  on 
which  several  of  the  heresies  of  the  time  were  based. 
For  example,  in  his  erudite  work  Contra  Judceos  et 
Gentes,  he  proves  that  many  of  the  interpretations  of 
prophecies  upon  which  the  Jews  were  relying  for  the 
unfulfilled  advent  of  the  Messiah  were  quite  erroneous, 
and  that  the  predictions  themselves  were  in  reality 
accomplished  in  the  life  and  labours  of  Jesus.  His 
mastery  over  Hebrew  was  manifested  in  a  new  trans- 
lation of  the  Psalms  into  Latin  and  Italian.  Manetti 
was  also  a  politician  and  diplomatist  of  high  standing. 
Not  only  did  he  serve  with  great  ability  and  accept- 
ance as  Florentine  ambassador  at  Venice,  Naples, 
Ferrara,  Milan,  and  Rome ;  he  was  also  called  upon  to 
administer  the  government  of  Scarperia,  Pistoia,  and 
Pescia,  at  epochs  in  their  history  when  the  possession 
of  the  highest  administrative  skill  was  demanded  for 
7 


98  THE  MEDICI  AND 

the  task,  united  to  a  tact  and  a  suave  firmness  as  rare 
as,  in  this  case  at  least,  they  were  necessary.  His 
eloquence  and  skill  in  extempore  speaking  enabled  him 
to  render  valuable  services  to  the  Republic,  on  such 
occasions  as  public  ceremonials  and  the  visits  of  foreign 
potentates.  His  services  to  the  Renaissance  consist  in 
his  eager  delight  in  communicating  the  vast  stores  of 
knowledge  he  possessed  to  younger  students,  in  his 
self-denying  labours  on  the  Latin  and  Greek  texts,  his 
ungrudging  expenditure  of  time  and  money  in  securing 
MSS.  which,  as  soon  as  copied,  he  caused  to  be  circu- 
lated among  such  scholars  as  poverty  precluded  from 
acquiring  the  means  of  culture.  Furthermore,  as  a 
Hebraist  he  was  among  the  first  of  his  age,  and  his 
achievements  in  this  field  of  effort  entitle  him  to  the 
highest  praise.1  Cosimo,  however,  would  endure  no 
rival  near  his  throne.  Gianozzo  Manetti  became  so 
great  a  power  in  Florence  as  a  liberal-minded  politician 
and  a  foe  to  oppression,  that  he  excited  the  jealousy  of 
the  Medicean  party,  who  ruined  him  by  extravagant 
taxes.  On  the  character  of  Cosimo  the  fact  remains 
as  a  stain  of  dishonour,  that  he  deliberately  crushed 
Manetti  because  he  feared  his  virtues.  In  addition  to 
his  great  controversial  work  against  the  Jews  and 
Gentiles,  referred  to  above,  he  translated  the  whole  of 
the  New  Testament,  also  all  the  ethical  treatises  of 
Aristotle  into  Latin,  and  several  of  the  Greek  classics 
into  Italian. 

Than  Manetti  few  of  the  Renaissance  worthies  were 
of  nobler  character.  While  free  from  the  prevailing 

1  Mauetti  was  commissioned  by  Nicholas  v.  to  translate  the  whole  of 
the  Bible  from  the  Hebrew  and  Greek.  The  death  of  the  Pope,  how- 
ever, stopped  the  work. — Gregorovius,  bk.  xiii.  cap.  vi. 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE          99 

vices  of  the  age,  he  was  pious,  and  esteemed  moral 
elevation  of  soul  a  more  precious  attribute  than 
the  most  soaring  genius.  His  last  years  were  spent 
in  retirement  and  amid  his  favourite  studies,  in  an 
asylum  generously  afforded  him  by  King  Alfonso  of 
Naples. 

One  of  the  chief  ornaments  of  the  Medicean  circle  from 
about  1420  to  1447,  when  to  the  surprise  of  all — himself 
most  of  all — he  was  raised  to  the  chair  of  St.  Peter,  as 
the  first  Humanist  Pope, — was  Tommaso  Parentucelli, 
otherwise  known  as  Thomas  of  Sarzana.  Born  at  the 
town  in  question  in  1398,  he  was  educated  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Bologna,  where  he  studied  with  great  dis- 
tinction theology  and  the  seven  liberal  arts.  Even 
in  youth  he  was  regarded  as  a  prodigy  of  learning, 
and  he  was  barely  twenty  when  he  was  appointed 
house-tutor  for  one  year  to  the  children  of  Rinaldo 
degli  Albizzi,  and  at  the  expiration  of  that  term  entered 
the  family  of  Palla  degli  Strozzi,  one  of  the  most 
cultured  men  of  his  age.  Having  qualified  for  office 
in  the  Church,  he  entered  the  service  of  Cardinal 
Niccol(5  degli  Albergati,  Archbishop  of  Bologna — also 
a  man  of  great  learning,  and  in  executing  his  commis- 
sions he  visited  most  of  the  countries  in  Europe.  When 
the  Papal  Court  in  the  pontificate  of  Eugenius  IV.  was 
forced  to  remove  to  Florence,  Tommaso  followed  his 
patron  thither.  Here  he  became  intimate  with  Cosimo 
de'  Medici,  who  conceived  a  warm  admiration  for  the 
acute,  alert,  learning-loving  monk.  To  Cosimo  he  was 
of  service  in  arranging  and  cataloguing  the  library  of 
Niccoli.  Even  at  this  time  he  was  in  receipt  of  a 
pension  from  his  patron,  who  told  him  never  to  lack 
money  for  the  purchase  of  any  book  he  required, — • 


ioo  THE  MEDICI   AND 

the  same  privilege  as  the  great  banker  had  accorded 
to  Niccoli. 

Albergati  died  in  1443 ;  Eugenius  at  Cosimo's  sugges- 
tion appointed  Tommaso  to  the  vacant  See  of  Bologna. 
In  six  months  time  he  was  called  to  the  College  of 
Cardinals,  and  in  1447  became  Pope  with  the  title  of 
Nicholas  V.  His  Humanistic  reputation,  as  one  of  the 
most  widely  cultured  men  of  the  age,  alone  won  for 
him  this  elevation,  for  he  had  neither  family  influence 
nor  wealth  to  secure  for  him  the  seat  of  St.  Peter's. 
"  Who  in  Florence  would  have  thought  that  a  poor  bell- 
ringer  of  a  priest  would  be  made  Pope,  to  the  confusion 
of  the  proud,"  was  his  remark  to  his  friend  Vespasiano 
when  the  news  was  announced  to  him.  He  requited 
Cosimo's  princely  kindness  to  him  by  appointing  him 
papal  banker. 

In  his  days  of  poverty  as  "  a  poor  priest "  he  had 
said :  "  If  I  were  rich  I  would  indulge  in  two  extra- 
vagances— building  and  the  collection  of  books."  As 
Pope  he  realised  these  dreams,  and  ennobled  religion 
and  worship  by  the  services  of  literature  and  art.  He 
collected  the  scattered  MSS.  that  were  in  the  papal 
buildings,  and  became  the  real  founder  of  the  Vatican 
Library. 

"  His  agents  were  seeking  MSS.  in  all  likely  places,  and  he 
offered  the  enormous  reward  of  5000  florins l  for  a  copy  of  the 
Hebrew  Gospel  of  Matthew.  His  chief  delight  was  to  handle 
and  arrange  these  volumes,  and  his  particular  favourites  were 
magnificently  bound  in  crimson  velvet  with  silver  clasps. 
They  included  the  presentation  copies  of  the  translations 

1  This  sum  would  represent  in  our  current  money  something  like 
£2000.  The  Florentine  florin  at  this  period  was  equal  to  about  8s.  6d. 
or  8s.  9d,  but  afterwards  it  decreased  in  value  very  materially. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         101 

from  the  Greek  he  had  suggested  and  nobly  rewarded.  He 
delighted  to  be  hailed  as  a  new  Maecenas  by  the  wandering 
knight-errants  of  learning." 

The  appointment  of  this  distinguished  Humanist  to 
the  papal  chair  raised  great  expectations  among  the 
friends  of  the  "New  Learning."  Nor  were  they  dis- 
appointed. He  lavished  the  revenues  of  the  Holy  See 
upon  men  of  letters,  that  he  might  encourage  them  to 
devote  their  talents  to  the  service  of  the  Church. 
Liberal-minded,  tolerant,  and  generous,  he  was  by  no 
means  insistant  that  those  he  helped  should  subscribe 
absolutely  to  every  doctrine  of  Mother  Church.1  The 
consequence  was,  he  attracted  well-nigh  all  the  Human- 
ists in  Italy  to  his  service,  and  the  scale  upon  which  he 
remunerated  them  was  princely.  Tiraboschi  informs  us 
that  Laurentius  Valla  received  500  scudi  for  his  transla- 
tion of  Thucydides ;  Guarino,  for  his  rendering  of  Strabo, 
1500  scudi ;  Perotti,  500  ducats  for  Polybius ;  while 
Manetti  was  granted  a  pension  of  600  scudi  per  annum, 
that  he  might  defend  the  Church  against  Jews,  Turks, ' 
and  infidels.2  Piero  Candido  Decembrio  was  engaged 
to  translate  Appian ;  Poggio,  Diodorus  Siculus  and  the 
Cyropcedia  of  Xenophon ;  while  Valla,  in  addition  to 
Thucydides,  was  commissioned  to  translate  Herodotus, 
and  in  conjunction  with  Decembrio,  the  Iliad  into  Latin 
prose.  The  Greek,  Georgios  Trapezuntius,  was  entrusted 
with  the  Metaphysics,  the  Physics,  and  the  Pro- 
blems of  Aristotle,  also  the  Republic  and  the  Laws 
of  Plato.  The  list  might  be  prolonged  almost  in- 
definitely. Every  scholar  with  any  pretensions  to 
skill  in  translation  could  obtain  almost  his  own  price 

1  Voigt,  Die  Wiedcrbclclitng,  ii.  202  ;  Vespasiano,  Vila. 
2Ambros.  Camald.,  Ep.  VIII.  42. 


102  THE  MEDICI  AND 

for  his  work  from  this  culture-loving  pontiff.  Highly 
paid  posts  were  conferred  on  all  the  leading  Human- 
ists. During  the  eight  years  of  his  pontificate  (1447- 
1455)  he  did  more  to  advance  the  cause  of  the 
Renaissance  than  any  other  man  in  Italy  save  Cosimo 
de'  Medici.  Well  might  the  Humanists  say  with  Filelf  o, 
when  the  death  of  Nicholas  was  announced :  "  The 
Church  mourns  the  Holy  Father,  we  mourn  our 
father." l  Despite  his  interest  in  letters  he  wrote 
nothing,  contenting  himself  with  stimulating  others  to 
worthy  deeds. 

SECTION  5. — Closing  Decade  of  Cosimo  s  Life 
POPES— Calixtus  in.,  1455  ;  Pius  n.,  1458  ;  Paul  IL,  1464 

We  now  reach  the  final  period  in  the  life  of  Cosimo — 
the  final  and  the  greatest.  Our  study  of  the  progress 
of  the  Renaissance  in  Florence  has  been  pursued  hitherto 
through  the  various  eras  in  the  life  of  Cosimo  de' 
Medici,  because  he  united  in  himself  all  the  best  char- 
acteristics of  the  Renaissance  spirit.  Until  the  Treaty 
of  Lodi  in  1455,  Northern  Itajy  was  the  battlefield  of 
Europe ;  after  it,  and  until  the  Papal  Wars  consequent 
on  the  failure  in  1478  of  the  Pazzi  conspiracy  against 
the  Medici,  Florence,  at  least,  had  peace.  Thus  Cosimo, 
during  the  last  decade  of  his  life,  was  fortunate  enough 
to  see  the  Republic  enjoying  a  prolonged  period  of 
quiescence  as  the  direct  result  of  his  policy,  which  sup- 
ported a  Milanese  in  place  of  a  Venetian  alliance.  His 
country  needed  rest,  and  now  she  had  obtained  it  on 
the  most  satisfactory  conditions. 

1  Filelf.,  Epis.,  l)k.  xiii.  1. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         103 

The  Renaissance  movement  in  Florence,  although 
progressive,  had  yet  its  seasons  of  semi  -  stagnation, 
when,  as  has  been  said,  the  prevalence  of  the  warlike 
spirit  militated  against  the  interests  of  literature.  Yet 
no  sooner  did  a  period  of  quiet  recur  than  Humanism 
again  came  to  the  front.  Other  Florentines  than 
Cosimo  had  interested  themselves  in  the  "Revival  of 
Learning."  Yet  their  labours  were,  comparatively 
speaking,  without  effect,  until  he  came  forward  with 
his  practical  wisdom  and  common-sense  plans  to  con- 
centrate and  consolidate  their  efforts.  To  Cosimo  de' 
Medici  in  large  measure  is  due  the  credit  of  making 
the  Renaissance  what  it  became,  a  general  not  a  par- 
ochial influence,  and  also  of  diffusing  among  Florentine 
scholars  a  truer  spirit  of  classicism  and  a  nobler  love 
of  antiquity  than,  at  that  time  at  least,  was  manifested 
elsewhere  in  Italy.  "Valdarno's  shady  groves"  were 
the  retreat  of  all  the  learning,  as  well  as  all  the  arts  and 
sciences  of  the  age,  the  meeting-place  of  literati  not  only 
from  Europe,  but  from  many  parts  of  Asia  as  well.  In  a 
word,  Florence  during  Cosimo's  life  was  the  birthplace 
of  that  spirit  of  intellectual  and  religious  liberty,  as 
well  as  the  battleground  where  were  fought  the  early 
engagements  of  that  mighty  war  between  ecclesiastical 
authority  and  freedom  of  conscience.  From  her  Mercato 
Vecchio  or  market  square  those  germs  of  spiritual 
freedom  spread  to  Germany,  Switzerland,  France,  and 
England,  which  in  time  produced  the  Reformation. 

In  the  Tuscan  genius  there  was  something  predis- 
posing it  to  pursue  everything  that  savoured  of  free- 
dom,— to  strike  out  new  paths  in  politics,  literature, 
science,  and  art,  and  to  revel  in  life,  light,  and  colour. 
Long  before  the  dates  usually  assigned  for  the  birth 


104  THE  MEDICI  AND 

of  the  Eenaissance  spirit,  Tuscany  in  general,  and  Flor- 
ence in  particular,  were  the  home  of  all  that  was 
greatest  and  best  in  letters  and  art.  Dante,  Petrarch, 
Boccaccio  in  literature;  Cimabue,  Giotto,  Buffalmacco 
in  painting ;  Niccolo  Pisano  in  sculpture ;  Andrea  Pisano 
and  Ghiberti  in  bronze-work ;  Orcagna  in  the  inspira- 
tion he  gave  to  strict  methods  of  design,  had  all  prepared 
the  soil  for  the  Renaissance  seed.  In  architecture  the 
Church  of  the  Samminists  near  Florence,  built  about 
1013,  the  Cathedral  of  Pisa,  begun  about  1063,  with  the 
churches  at  Lucca  and  Pistoia,  all  tend  to  show  that 
even  early  in  the  Middle  Ages  the  Tuscans  were  aiming 
at  a  Revival  or  Renaissance  of  architecture.  Arnolfo 
del  Cambio,  both  in  his  designs  for  public  or  municipal 
buildings — as,  for  instance,  in  the  Palazzo  Vecchio  of 
Florence — and  for  ecclesiastical  structures,  as,  for  ex- 
ample, in  the  Cathedral  of  Florence,  afterwards  to  be 
so  marvellously  transformed  from  the  characteristics 
of  his  design  by  Brunelleschi's  dome,  aimed  at  a  union 
of  Grecian  simplicity  with  Gothic  minuteness  of  detail. 
He  is  only  a  type  of  many  who,  inspired  by  the  classic 
spirit  long  before  the  Revival  of  Letters,  sought  to 
impress  it  on  their  work.  We  mention  these  facts  to 
show  that  the  "  Renaissance "  in  its  literary  aspect, 
otherwise  the  Revival  of  Letters,  was  not  the  earliest 
form  of  the  great  inspiration ;  but  that  the  classic 
spirit,  which  had  reached  its  highest  expression  in  the 
Hellenic  sculpture  of  Phidias  and  Praxiteles,  rather 
than  in  the  painting  of  Apelles,  after  lingering  in 
remote  regions  and  amid  forgotten  forms  of  art,  was 
gradually  reawakened  to  an  intelligent  expression  of 
the  language  of  high  imaginings,  by  the  brush  of 
Cimabue  and  Giotto  and  the  chisel  of  Niccolo  Pisano. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         105 

The  intense  susceptibility  of  the  Florentines  was  the 
predisposing  cause  of  their  early  pre-eminence  in  every 
branch  of  Renaissance  culture.  Many  of  their  most 
distinguished  men  were  not  only  "  polymaths  "  in  their 
relation  to  letters,  but  "  polytechnists "  in  their  pro- 
ficiency in  all  the  arts.  For  example,  Giotto,  Orcagna, 
Leo  Battista  Alberti,  Lionardo  da  Vinci,  and  others 
were  as  many-sided  in  the  inspirations  of  their  genius 
as  they  were  supreme  in  its  multiform  concrete  realisa- 
tion. What  is  said  of  Alberti  may  be  said  of  all  these 
gifted  sons  of  the  Renaissance — 

"His  insight  into  every  branch  of  knowledge  seemed  in- 
tuitive, and  his  command  of  the  arts  was  innate.  At  the  age 
of  twenty  he  composed  the  comedy  of  Pliilodoxius,  which 
passed  for  an  antique  and  was  published  by  the  Aldi  as  the  work 
of  Lepidus  Comicus  in  1588.  Of  music,  though  he  had  not 
made  it  a  special  study,  he  was  a  thorough  master,  composing 
melodies  that  gave  delight  to  scientific  judges.  He  painted 
pictures  and  wrote  three  books  on  painting ;  practised  archi- 
tecture, and  compiled  ten  books  on  building.  Of  his  books, 
chiefly  portraits,  nothing  remains;  but  the  Church  of  S. 
Andrea  at  Mantua,  the  Palazzo  Eucellai  at  Florence,  and 
the  remodelled  Church  of  S.  Francesco  at  Eimini,  attest  his 
greatness  as  an  architect.  .  .  .  He  now  turned  his  plastic 
genius  to  philosophy  and  mathematics.  It  is  believed  that  he 
anticipated  some  modern  discoveries  in  optics,  and  he  cer- 
tainly advanced  the  science  of  perspective ;  ...  he  devoted 
attention  to  mechanics,  and  devised  machinery  for  raising 
sunken  ships ;  ...  he  was  never  tired  of  interrogating  nature, 
conducting  curious  experiments,  and  watching  her  more  secret 
operations.  As  a  physiognomist  and  diviner  he  acquired  a 
reputation  bordering  on  wizardry.  In  general  society  his 
wisdom  and  his  wit,  the  eloquence  of  his  discourse  and 


106  THE  MEDICI  AND 

the  brilliance  of  his  improvisation,  rendered  him  most  fasci- 
nating." l 

The  distinguishing  feature  of  the  final  period  of 
Cosimo's  life  was  his  endeavour  to  consolidate  his  work 
in  connection  with  the  Renaissance  into  some  permanent 
form.  He  had  witnessed  the  effects  of  the  fall  of 
Constantinople,  and  while  he  rejoiced  at  the  stimulus 
given  to  letters  by  the  diffusion  of  the  learned  Greeks 
throughout  Europe,  he  viewed  with  the  keenest  appre- 
hension the  growth  of  the  Ottoman  power.  "They 
have  long  knocked  at  the  gate  of  Europe,"  he  remarked, 
alluding  to  the  geographical  position  of  Constantinople  ; 
"  now  they  have  succeeded  in  bursting  it  open.  What 
will  happen  now  ?  I  much  fear  a  recurrence  to  barbar- 
ism if  they  overrun  Eastern  Europe."  He  had  also 
seen  the  rise  of  the  art  of  printing,  though  he  does  not 
seem  to  have  gauged  the  infinite  possibilities  opened 
up  by  the  new  process  of  "impression  from  movable 
types."  Like  his  own  agent  Vespasiano  and  Duke 
Federigo  da  Montefeltro,  he  preferred  a  fine  speci- 
men of  caligraphy — the  work  of  a  first-rate  copyist, 
to  the  best  printing.  His  grandson  Lorenzo  estimated 
more  truly  the  character  of  the  revolution  to  be  wrought 
by  the  new  art :  "  It  will  create  a  new  world,"  was  his 
remark,  and  his  prediction  has  been  abundantly  ful- 
filled. 

Cosimo's  closing  years  were  haunted  by  the  conviction 
that  he  had  achieved  nothing  likely  to  prove  impervious 

1  Symonds,  Renaissance,  vol.  ii.  p.  247.  The  entire  paragraphs,  from 
which  I  have  only  quoted  a  sentence  or  two,  are  worthy  of  close  study, 
as  they  state  clearly  and  succinctly  a  curious  problem  in  connection 
with  the  Renaissance. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         107 

to  the  wear  and  tear  of  time.  "  Fifty  years  and  I 
shall  be  forgotten,"  he  said,  with  profound  sadness  to 
Carlo  Marsuppini,  "  unless  those  few  buildings  I  have 
erected  keep  alive  the  remembrance  that  long  ago 
there  did  live  such  a  man  as  Cosimo  de'  Medici."  Mar- 
suppini consoled  him  by  relating  the  following  story — 

"  One  of  the  great  Arabian  caliphs,  while  riding  out  into 
the  country  with  his  suite,  came  upon  a  very  aged  man 
engaged  in  planting  fruit  trees  in  his  little  orchard.  On 
learning  that  the  old  man  had  no  children  he  said  :  '  How 
foolish  of  this  aged  father  to  slave  in  connection  with  that  of 
which  neither  he  nor  any  descendants  from  him  will  ever 
eat.'  On  making  a  remark  to  this  effect  to  the  old  man,  the 
latter  said :  '  Not  so,  sir ;  neither  my  father  nor  I  planted 
these  trees  from  which  I  have  derived  such  pleasure  from  the 
fruit.  I  do  not  know  who  planted  them,  but  seeing  that 
those  who  lived  before  us  have  had  the  forethought  to  plant 
these  for  the  unknown  ones  who  were  to  come  after  them, 
ought  not  I  to  have  some  consideration  for  the  unknown  ones 
who  are  to  come  after  me  1 ' ' 

Cosimo  was  delighted  with  the  story.  To  his  dying 
day  it  influenced  his  life,  and  the  immediate  outcome 
of  it  was  the  Platonic  Academy  at  Florence.  For  years 
he  had  toiled  in  collecting  MSS.,  and  in  disseminating 
copies  of  them  by  means  of  the  great  band  of  scriptorii, 
or  copyists,  which  he  retained  in  his  service  under  the 
charge  of  Vespasiano.  But  he  felt  that  something 
more  was  needed.  A  few  years  previous  Gemisthus 
Pletho  had  lectured  in  Florence  on  "  Plato." l  At  that 
time  (1439-1440)  Cosimo  was  desirous  of  establishing 
a  Hellenic  Academy  to  encourage  the  study  of  Greek. 
1  See  ante,  p.  85. 


io8  THE  MEDICI  AND 

Further  conversation  with  the  "  Sage  of  Mistra,"  l  and 
the  influence  of  Lionardo  Bruni  and  Ambrogio  Traver- 
sari,  directed  his  thoughts  towards  Plato.  Bruni  had 
translated  the  Phcedo,  Crito,  Phcedrus,  and  other 
works  of  the  great  Grecian  idealist,  but  had  laid  more 
stress  on  the  theological  than  the  metaphysical  side 
of  his  system.  Gemisthus  took  the  same  line.  The 
consequence  was  that  Platonism  became  in  Italy  a 
synonym  for  a  bastard  Christianity,  in  which  Plato's 
ethical  sublimity  was  lost  in  a  maze  of  obscure 
Eclecticism,  and  the  Atonement  of  our  Lord  was 
ranked  in  the  same  category  as  the  death  of  Socrates. 

Cosimo's  studies  in  Platonism  led  him  to  the  belief 
that  in  the  system  "  of  him  of  Academe  "  he  had  dis- 
covered a  panacea  for  all  the  moral  and  spiritual  ills 
to  which  flesh  is  heir.  Rising  almost  to  the  border- 
line of  the  pathetic  is  his  enthusiasm  over  Plato.  The 
much -desired  element  which  he  professed  to  find 
lacking  in  Christianity,  namely,  a  sympathy  with  all 
possible  forms  of  beauty,  he  declared  to  be  present  in 
Platonism.  Early  in  the  fifth  decade  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  therefore,  he  proceeded  to  found  a  Platonic 
Academy  in  Florence,  whose  aim  would  be  the  study 
of  this  philosophy,  in  development  of  which  he  believed 
the  moral  and  spiritual,  as  well  as  the  intellectual, 
regeneration  of  the  world  to  be  bound  up.  The 
number  of  its  members  was  at  first  small.  Few 
scholars  as  yet  concerned  themselves  with  Plato.  This, 
however,  Cosimo  determined  to  remedy.  He  set  apart 
Marsiglio  Ficino,  the  son  of  his  physician,  to  be  the 
high  priest  of  the  new  faith.  From  early  boyhood 

1  Mistra,  in  the  Peloponnesus,  where  Gemisthus  acted  as  judge,  and 
•where  he  died  in  1450  at  the  age  of  ninety-fire. 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         109 

Ficino  was  educated  with  a  view  to  assuming,  when 
competent,  the  presidentship  or  professorship — for  it 
was  both — of  the  new  institution.  Born  in  the  year 
1433,  Ficino  was  scarcely  eighteen  when  he  was 
received  into  the  Medicean  palace.  Apartments  were 
assigned  him,  and  a  stated  income  allowed  that  he 
might  devote  himself  to  the  study  of  the  Platonic 
philosophy,  undisturbed  by  such  sublunary  concerns 
as  whence  his  bread  and  butter  were  to  come. 

He  proved  himself  a  worthy  recipient  of  Cosimo's 
bounty.  His  abilities  were  of  a  very  high  order,  and 
his  prosecution  of  his  studies  proceeded  as  much  from 
intense  love  of  the  subject  as  from  the  consciousness 
that  his  life's  future  depended  on  it.  When  he  was 
five-and-twenty  he  formally  assumed  the  presidentship 
of  the  Platonic  Academy.  Henceforward  his  life  was 
consecrated  to  lecturing  upon  "  the  one  philosopher,"  as 
Plato  was  called  by  his  votaries,  and  to  translating  his 
works.  Though  he  entered  the  priesthood  and  faithfully 
discharged  its  duties,  though,  moreover,  all  his  days  he 
remained  an  earnest  Christian,  there  can  be  no  doubt, 
from  a  perusal  of  his  works,  that  to  him  Plato  was  as 
much  a  forerunner  of  Christ  as  any  of  the  prophets. 
The  whole  bent  of  his  mind  was  directed  towards 
assimilating  and  unifying  Christianity  and  Platonism. 
His  was  the  attitude  of  the  Alexandrian  Mystics.  He 
even  preferred  Plotinus  as  an  exponent  of  Platonism 
to  Plato  himself,  inasmuch  as  he  obtained  more  features 
of  resemblance  to  the  sayings  of  Jesus  from  the  works 
of  the  disciple  than  from  those  of  the  master. 

Ficino's  work  in  connection  with  the  Platonic 
Academy  in  Florence  was  of  great  value  in  advanc- 
ing the  progress  of  the  Renaissance.  Apart  from  his 


no  THE  MEDICI   AND 

philosophical  ability,  he  was  a  scholar  of  undoubted 
eminence.  Characterised  by  fidelity  to  the  text  and 
felicity  of  diction,  as  his  translations  undoubtedly  are, 
the  fact  must,  however,  be  admitted  that  he  was  more 
faithful  sometimes  to  the  letter  than  the  spirit  of  the 
original.  Though  his  rendering  into  Latin  of  Plato's 
entire  works,  albeit  completed  in  1477,  was  not 
published  until  1482,  eighteen  years  after  the  death  of 
Cosimo,  the  probability  is  that  most  if  not  all  the  works 
were  read  to  the  latter  before  the  close  of  his  life. 
The  eager  earnestness  of  the  great  statesman  over  the 
diligent  prosecution  of  the  task — an  earnestness  in- 
creasing as  for  him  life's  shadows  lengthened — is 
profoundly  pathetic.  Platonism  presented  itself  to 
him  as  at  once  the  solution  of  the  perplexing  problems 
and  the  solace  of  the  inseparable  sorrows  of  human 
existence.  Ficino  was  always  Cosimo's  companion, 
when  the  old  man  retired  from  the  harassments  of 
his  position,  as  the  unofficial  head  of  the  Republic,  to 
the  villa  of  Careggi  on  the  sunny  slopes  of  Fiesole. 
There  he  strove  to  forget  the  burden  of  political 
anxieties  in  study  and  meditation.  In  his  seventieth 
year  (1459)  he  thus  writes  to  his  young  protege l — 

"  Yesterday  I  arrived  at  Careggi — not  so  much,  for  the 
purpose  of  improving  my  fields  as  myself:  let  me  see  you, 
Marsiglio,  as  soon  as  possible,  and  forget  not  to  bring  with 
you  the  book  of  our  favourite  Plato,  De  Summo  Bono — which 
I  presume,  according  to  your  promise,  you  have  ere  this 
translated  into  Latin ;  for  there  is  no  employment  to  which 
I  so  ardently  devote  myself  as  to  find  out  the  true  road  to 
happiness.  Come,  then,  and  fail  not  to  bring  with  you  the 
Orphean  lyre." 

1  Ficini  Epis.,  i.  1. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         in 

After  the  death  of  his  patron,  Ficino  wrote  to  Lorenzo 
de'  Medici  that  during  twelve  years  he  had  conversed 
with  Cosimo  on  matters  of  philosophy,  and  always 
found  him  as  acute  in  reasoning  as  he  was  prudent 
and  powerful  in  action.  "I  owe  to  Plato  much,"  he 
adds, — "to  Cosimo  no  less.  He  realised  for  me  the 
virtues  of  which  Plato  gave  me  the  conception." 1 

Ficino  was  also  one  of  the  favoured  friends  of 
Piero  and  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici.  As  he  lived  on 
until  1499  he  had  therefore  to  mourn  the  death  of 
three  Medicean  patrons,  Cosimo,  Piero,  Lorenzo,  as 
well  as  the  fall  of  the  great  house.  He  translated,  in 
addition  to  Plato,  Plotinus,  the  Orphic  Hymns  and 
Hermes  Trismegistus,  and  wrote  a  work  in  defence  of 
the  Christian  religion.2  It  is  not  difficult  to  under- 
stand why  Plato  was  regarded  as  the  philosopher  par 
excellence  of  the  Renaissance,  rather  than  Aristotle. 
The  latter  was  identified  with  Scholasticism  and  the 
bondage  of  the  human  intellect  in  the  fetters  of 
authority.  Plato  represented  the  Morning  Star  of 
freedom,  the  emancipation  of  the  mind  of  man  from 
the  rigid  plate-mail  of  ecclesiastical  dogma.  Before 
the  scholars  of  the  Renaissance  epoch,  Plato  held  up 
an  Ideal  of  Beauty  alike  in  precept  and  practice,  as 
bewitching  as  it  was  ennobling.  The  very  haziness 
and  nebulosity  of  the  principles  passing  current  as 
"  Renaissance  Platonism "  recommended  themselves  to 
those  who  so  long  had  been  held  in  fetters  by  the 
cast-iron  logic  of  Aristotelian  Scholasticism.  Ficino's 
attitude  was  typical  of  the  Platonists  of  his  age.  He 
believed  that  the  divine  Plotinus  had  first  revealed 
the  theology  of  the  divine  Plato,  with  the  "  Mysteries  " 
1  Symonds,  vol.  ii.  p.  129.  2  De  Religione  Christiana. 


H2  THE  MEDICI   AND 

of  the  ancients,  and  that  these  were  consistent  with 
Christianity,  although  he  had  to  confess  he  could  not 
find  in  Plato's  writings  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity.1 

Cosimo  sustained  in  1463  a  crushing  affliction  in  the 
death  of  his  son  Giovanni,  a  man  who,  had  he  lived, 
would  probably  have  become  the  greatest  of  the 
Medici.  Intellectually,  he  was  marvellously  gifted ; 
and  at  the  time  of  his  death,  at  the  age  of  forty-two, 
he  was  in  the  very  first  rank  as  a  statesman,  as  a 
scholar,  as  a  discriminating  critic  of  music  and  art, 
and  as  a  patron  of  culture.  Great  things  were  ex- 
pected of  him  by  the  circle  of  Florentine  Humanists. 
When  he  died  the  blow  to  the  cause  of  letters  seemed 
little  less  crushing  than  to  Cosimo  himself ;  for  Piero, 
his  elder  son,  was  so  weak  in  health  as  to  be  unable  to 
take  part  in  the  rough-and-tumble  strife  of  Florentine 
politics.  Yet  it  was  this  loss  of  his  uncle  that  im- 
planted the  ambition  in  the  mind  of  Lorenzo  the 
Magnificent,  then  a  boy  of  eleven,  to  realise  all  that 
uncle  would  have  been  to  his  family  and  to  Florence. 

To  the  aged  Cosimo  the  death  of  Giovanni  sounded 
his  own  death-knell.  Though  he  lingered  on  for  about 
a  year,  though  he  endeavoured  to  assuage  his  grief  by 
applying  to  his  case  the  maxims  of  Plato,  the  old 
man  felt  his  work  was  done,  and  that  he  was  nearing 
his  eternal  rest. 

Albeit  well-nigh  every  Humanist  in  Northern  Italy 
sought  to  console  the  benefactor  from  whom  one  and 
all  had  received  benefits  so  manifold;  though  Pope 
Pius  II.  (^Eneas  Sylvius)  wrote  him  a  letter  of  con- 
dolence in  choice  Renaissance  Latin,  to  which  Cosimo 
replied  in  a  style  scarcely  less  choice,  all  sympathy  fell 
1  Schaff,  The  Renaissance,  cliap.  xvi.  p.  65. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         113 

upon  a  heart  incapable  of  receiving  it,  inasmuch  as  it 
had  beheld  the  ruin  of  its  dearest  hopes.  Therefore 
that  smile,  so  strangely  sweet  and  winning  to  all  his 
friends,  was  seen  on  his  lips  no  more.  Gradually  he 
drooped.  His  limbs  lost  the  power  of  motion,  and  in 
consequence  he  became  inordinately  stout.  His  mind, 
however,  remained  as  clear  as  ever.  A  short  time 
before  his  death  he  asked  to  be  carried  through  the 
apartments  of  his  palace :  "  'Tis  too  great  a  house  for 
so  small  a  family,"  he  said  sadly,  alluding  to  the  dread 
he  entertained  that  if  there  was  no  strong  chief  of  the 

o 

Medicean  faction,  its  enemies,  jealous  of  its  position, 
and  already  in  his  absence  beginning  to  make  headway 
against  it,  might  achieve  its  ruin. 

Cosimo  died  in  1464,  mourned  far  and  wide  as  the 
"  father  of  his  country."  He  had  lived  to  see  the  third 
great  epoch  of  Humanism — which  lasted  from  the  fall 
of  Constantinople  to  the  death  of  his  grandson,  Lor- 
enzo de'  Medici — fairly  under  way.  He  had  contri- 
buted his  share — a  share  of  no  trifling  importance  and 
magnitude — to  the  furtherance  of  its  progress.  New 
men  were  arising,  however,  whose  ideals  in  art  and 
letters  were  different  from  those  he  had  followed.  It 
is  a  trait  in  him  no  less  great  than  gracious  that  he 
welcomed  the  new  inspiration  in  Cristoforo  Landino, 
Bartolommeo  Scala,  Argyropoulos,  Andronicos  Kallistos, 
Tommaso  Benci,  Cavalcanti,  and  Alberti  as  warmly  as 
thirty  or  forty  years  before  he  had  hailed  the  old,  in 
Bruni,  Traversari,  and  Marsuppini. 

Most  of  these  scholars  lived  to  adorn  the  age  of 
Lorenzo.  But  one  Humanist,  who  although  born  in 
Tuscan  territory  and  educated  in  the  city,  had  never 
permanently  resided  there,  during  Cosimo's  last  years 


H4  THE  MEDICI  AND 

returned  to  Florence  to  fill  the  position  of  Chancellor, 
after  spending  the  greater  portion  of  his  life  as  Apos- 
tolic Secretary  in  Rome.  This  was  Poggio  Braccio- 
lini,  who  lives  in  history  with  honour  and  repute  as 
the  man  who  first  awakened  to  the  teachings  of  the 
mighty  ruins  of  ancient  Rome,  and  who  wrote  a  book, 
valuable  at  the  time  and  for  long  after,  on  the  "  Topo- 
graphy "  of  the  city  in  the  days  of  the  Empire. 
Poggio,  who  was  born  in  1380  and  died  in  1458,  was, 
as  we  have  seen,  one  of  the  most  indefatigable  of 
Italian  codex  hunters.1  After  having  had  his  bent 
towards  classic  studies  warmly  encouraged  by  Salu- 
tato,  he  proceeded  to  Rome  in  1402,  and  served  as  one 
of  the  papal  secretaries  under  no  fewer  than  eight 
pontiffs,  from  Boniface  IX.  to  Nicholas  V.  Sometimes 
the  Holy  Fathers  were  obliged  to  leave  Rome  and  to 
take  refuge  temporarily  in  Florence.  But  with  the  ex- 
ception of  these  sojourns  at  Valdarno,  and  a  visit  paid 
to  England,  on  the  invitation  of  Cardinal  Beaufort, 
Bishop  of  Winchester, — the  Beaufort  of  Shakespeare's 
Henry  VI., — Poggio  never  left  Rome,  unless  on  his  brief 
journeys  in  search  of  MSS.  The  "  Eternal  City  "  was 
his  mistress,  his  bride,  and  her  ruins  and  antiquities 
exercised  over  him  a  glamour  comparable  only  to  that 
exerted  by  a  pretty  woman  over  an  impressionable  man. 
Yet  he  never  lost  his  love  for  Florence.  He  was  a 
devoted  adherent  of  the  Medicean  circle,  ready  to  fight 
the  battles  of  the  faction  with  such  antagonists  as 
Filelfo,  and  professing  for  Cosimo  an  affection  as  deep 
as  it  was  disinterested.  In  his  last  years  his  one  desire 
was  to  return  to  the  banks  of  the  Arno  and  to  end  his 
life  there.  Although  seventy-three  years  of  age  at  the 

1  See  his  Life  by  Shepherd  in  English,  and  by  Recanati  in  Italian. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         115 

time  of  the  death  of  Carlo  Marsuppini,  Chancellor  of 
Florence,  the  old  man  accepted  the  offer  of  the  vacant 
post,  and  journeyed  north  in  eager  haste  to  assume  the 
duties.  For  five  years  he  held  the  office,  the  duties 
being  often  discharged  by  deputy,  owing  to  the  Chan- 
cellor's weakness. 

To  the  very  last  Poggio  was  a  working  Humanist, 
inspired  by  an  insatiable  desire  to  advance  the  cause 
of  letters.  His  enthusiasm  over  those  discoveries  of 
the  codices  of  the  great  Latin  and  Greek  classics,  his 
unselfishness  in  communicating  to  others  of  his  intel- 
lectual store,  the  unwearied  energy  wherewith  he  pur- 
sued his  researches  under  difficulties  that  would  have 
daunted  many  another  man — all  tend  to  show  how 
well  deserved  was  the  title  bestowed  upon  him  by 
Cosimo,  when  the  banker-statesman  heard  of  the  death 
of  the  grand  old  Humanist :  "  Of  a  truth,"  said  he,  "  one 
of  the  pillars  of  Humanism  has  passed  away."  In  ad- 
dition to  his  work  on  the  antiquities  and  topography 
of  Rome,1  he  wrote  voluminously.  Dialogues,  satires, 
invectives,  translations,  etc.,  all  flowed  from  his  pro- 
lific pen.  The  works  by  which  he  is  now  remembered 
are  his  satires  on  Hypocrisy  and  on  the  Fratres 
Observantice — severe  attacks  upon  monasticism  and 
the  clerical  orders  generally;  his  Facetiae,  or  witty 
stories,  and  his  History  of  Florence — the  last-named 
a  work  of  great  merit.  Poggio's  working  life  in  the 
cause  of  the  Renaissance  extended  over  fifty-five  years. 
Though  he  had  many  bitter  controversies,  such  as  those 
with  Filelfo,  Laurentius  Valla,  Guarino,  and  Perotti,  on 
points  of  disputed  scholarship,  he  was  widely  honoured 

1  De  Varietate  Fortunes,  the  first  book  of  which  is  often  styled  Urbis 
Jlomce  Descriptio. 


n6  THE   MEDICI   AND 

and  admired,  and  may  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  typical 
Italian  Humanists. 

But  we  must  not  run  away  with  the  idea  that 
Cosimo's  interest  in  the  Renaissance  was  bounded  by 
his  literary  and  intellectual  sympathies.  Far  from  it. 
Granted  that  his  tastes  were  more  literary  than  artistic, 
and  evinced  themselves  rather  in  the  direction  of  foster- 
ing classic  culture  than  in  patronising  the  productions 
of  Italian  genius,  he  nevertheless  was  a  generous 
friend  to  all  the  leading  painters,  sculptors,  architects, 
musicians,  and  workers  in  metals  of  the  age.  As  Voigt 
says,  his  delight  in  poets,  classical  scholars,  and  artists 
were  all  links  in  the  one  chain  whereby  he  bound  Flor- 
ence to  himself.1  As  we  have  already  said,  he  became 
all  things  to  all  men,  if  so  be  he  might  attach  them  to 
himself.  His  knowledge  of  all  the  branches  of  art  was 
that  of  an  expert.  While  his  agents,  whom  he  com- 
missioned to  scour  the  known  world  for  him  in  search 
of  codices — namely,  Ciriaco,  Poggio,  Cristoforo  Buon- 
delmonti,  Antonio  da  Massa,  Andrea  de'  Rimini,  and 
others  were  enjoined  to  spare  no  expense  in  securing 
MSS.  of  value  in  Latin,  Greek,  Hebrew,  Chaldaic,  and 
Arabic,  as  well  as  articles  of  vertu  of  all  kinds — they 
were  also  instructed  to  keep  an  eye  on  the  produc- 
tions of  contemporary  genius,  and  especially  to  re- 
commend to  his  notice  any  case  where  obscurity  of 
circumstances  was  preventing  the  advance  of  genius 
along  the  best  lines  of  progress  and  development.2 
Cosimo's  patronage  of  art,  like  his  patronage  of  learn- 
ing, was  from  the  level  of  equality,  not  from  the 
altitude  of  superiority.  Roscoe's  remark  is  well  within 
the  truth — 

1  Die.  Wiederbelcbwng.  -  Bandini,  Leitcra. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         117 

"  In  affording  protection  to  the  arts  of  architecture,  paint- 
ing, and  sculpture,  Cosimo  set  a  great  example  to  those  who 
by  their  rank  and  their  riches  could  alone  afford  them  effectual 
aid.  The  countenance  shown  by  him  to  those  arts  was  not  of 
that  kind  which  their  professors  generally  experience  from 
the  great :  it  was  not  conceded  as  a  bounty  nor  received  as  a 
favour,  but  appeared  in  the  friendship  and  equality  that  sub- 
sisted between  the  artist  and  his  patron." l 

The  enormous  sums  spent  by  Cosimo  in  building 
were  intended  to  impress  the  susceptible  Florentines 
in  much  the  same  way  as  a  modern  merchant  en- 
deavours to  catch  the  fickle  public  by  wholesale 
advertising.  His  expenditure  of  money  on  buildings 
— buildings  from  which  the  citizens  of  his  native  town 
would  derive  the  greatest  amount  of  benefit  and  plea- 
sure— was  just  his  "  big  ad."  to  secure  the  adhesion  of 
the  Florentines  to  his  family  after  he  was  gone.  He 
was  far-seeing  enough  to  perceive  that  the  power  to 
confer  immortality  lay  with  the  scholars,  the  archi- 
tects, the  painters,  and  the  sculptors  of  the  Renais- 
sance. Therefore  Cosimo,  though  his  interest  in  the 
Renaissance  was  unquestionably  sincere,  found  it 
advantageous  to  spend  his  money  freely  in  support- 
ing the  movement.  Besides  benefiting  the  public  and 
winning  their  regard,  he  was  thereby  able  to  patronise 
genius  without  pauperising  it  through  direct  charity. 

Cosimo,  then,  was  illustrious  as  a  patron  alike  of 
architecture,  sculpture,  painting,  and  music.  In  the 
first  named  his  Renaissance  tastes  were  again  in  evi- 
dence when,  in  selecting  the  plans  of  a  palazzo  for  the 
family,  he  preferred  the  simplicity  of  Michelozzi  to  the 
ornate  splendour  of  Brunelleschi.  Well  did  he  know 
1  Roscoe,  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  chap.  i.  p.  7  7. 


n8  THE  MEDICI  AND 

the  jealousy  of  the  Florentines  towards  any  public 
man  who  made  a  display  of  wealth  and  pomp.  They 
at  once  jumped  to  the  conclusion  that  the  individual 
in  question  aimed  at  the  supreme  power.  "  Envy  is 
a  plant  that  needs  no  watering,"  he  said  in  his  terse 
epigrammatic  style,  and  he  spoke  out  of  the  fulness 
of  his  own  experience.  Even  in  this  trivial  matter 
his  example  influenced  the  prevailing  mode.  Fashion 
enacted  that  simplicity  was  preferable  to  splendour. 

Although  Cosimo,  with  respect  to  his  palazzo  and 
his  villa  at  Careggi,  gave  the  preference  to  the  plans 
of  Michelozzi,  he  had  too  true  a  perception  of  the  inner 
soul  of  art  to  place  the  latter  on  the  same  level  with 
the  architect  whose  designs  were  rejected.  Brunel- 
leschi  was  an  all-round  genius  of  soaring  sublimity; 
Michelozzi  merely  a  man  of  talent  endowed  with  a 
facile  knack  of  adapting  that  talent  to  circumstances. 
Cosimo  paid  due  honour  to  Brunelleschi — whose  Duomo 
crowning  the  Cathedral  of  Florence  is,  his  immortal 
memorial — by  employing  him  in  undertakings  where 
the  peculiar  bent  of  his  genius  would  suit  the  end  in 
view,  such  as  the  Churches  of  San  Lorenzo  and  San 
Spirito  and  the  cloisters  of  the  Badia  at  Fiesole.1 
During  the  last  years  of  his  life  in  particular  Cosimo 
indulged  his  weakness  for  building,  and  many  were 
the  exquisite  edifices  with  which  Florence  at  this  time 
was  adorned  at  his  expense.  The  sums  he  lavished 
upon  this  hobby  seem  almost  fabulous,  yet  we  must 
remember  that  money  was  then  made  more  easily  than 
has  been  the  case  before  or  since  in  the  world's  his- 

1  See  The,  Story  of  Florence,  by  E.  G.  Gardner  (J.  M.  Dent  &  Co.), 
one  of  the  finest  descriptions  of  Florence  that  has  yet  been  written, 
p.  127,  also  pp.  211-213. 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         119 

tory.  The  old  mediaeval  order  of  things  was  passing, 
the  new  modern  one  was  not  yet  solidified  into  social 
or  economic  custom ;  people  were  captivated  by  a  love 
of  novelty  which  they  gratified  without  counting  the 
cost.  This  feeling  finds  expression  in  Cosimo's  well- 
known  remark,  that  the  only  thing  he  regretted  was 
that  he  had  not  begun  to  throw  away  money  on  such 
objects  ten  years  before  he  did. 

From  building  to  decoration  is  but  a  step,  and  here 
Cosimo  also  showed  his  cultured  Renaissance  taste. 
While  his  palaces,  his  villas,  his  churches  were 
supremely  beautiful  without,  they  were  as  superbly 
finished  within.  As  regards  the  Palazzo  Medici  in  the 

o 

Via  Larga,  and  his  villa  of  Careggi  on  the  slopes  of 
the  hills  of  Fiesole,  all  the  antique  statuary  and  in- 
scriptions, the  fragments  of  classic  art  which  his  vast 
wealth  enabled  his  agents  to  buy  over  the  heads  of 
all  other  bidders,  were  gathered  therein,  and  formed 
a  unique  collection  to  which  everyone  interested  in 
culture  had  free  admission  on  certain  days  at  stated 
hours.  But  as  he  kept  open  table,  to  which  all  his 
friends  were  welcome,  and  as  his  circle  of  friends 
virtually  included  all  the  better  known  citizens  of 
Florence,  practically  his  dwellings  were  free  to  the 
public. 

Other  industries  benefited  by  his  munificence.  The 
finest  tapestries,  worked  from  designs  executed  in  Flor- 
ence by  Paolo  Uccello  and  others,  were  woven  for  him 
on  the  looms  of  Bruges,  Arras,  and  Ghent.  The  balus- 
trades and  cornices,  the  furniture  and  the  panels  of 
the  doors,  were  adorned  with  hunting  scenes  and  repre- 
sentations of  tournaments  executed  by  Dello  Belli ;  the 
floors  of  his  halls  and  vestibules  were  embellished  with 


120  THE  MEDICI  AND 

mosaics  designed  by  Alesso  Baldovinetti ;  while  the 
walks  in  his  gardens  and  the  floors  of  the  summer- 
houses  were  laid  with  tile-work  under  the  direction 
of  Delia  Robbia,  whose  terra-cotta  statuettes  peeped 
from  many  corners  of  the  grounds  and  piazzas. 

Cosimo  encouraged  his  friends  to  rise  to  the  highest 
expression  of  their  genius.  Only  at  their  best  would 
he  recognise  their  work.  His  delicate  consideration 
towards  Paolo  Uccelo  and  Andrea  del  Castagna,  while 
they  were  struggling  to  overcome  the  difficulties  of 
"  perspective  "  and  "  foreshortening  "  when  painting 
the  frescoes  on  the  walls  of  his  palace, — a  considera- 
tion which  took  the  form  of  paying  them  for  the  time 
they  were  engaged  on  a  series  of  experiments  in  the 
effects  of  light  and  shade, — was  only  on  a  par  with  his 
treatment  of  the  great  sculptor-painter  Donatello,  of 
whose  work  he  was  particularly  fond,  and  whom  he 
retained  to  paint,  among  other  things,  those  famous 
medallions  which  adorned  the  courtyard  of  the  Medici 
palace. 

In  painting,  the  choicest  specimens  of  the  art  of  Fra 
Angelico — Guido — one  of  Cosimo's  dearest  friends,  and 
a  man  no  less  eminent  for  his  piety  than  for  his  pic- 
tures; of  the  prematurely  deceased  Masaccio,  whose 
genius,  great  as  it  was  in  the  expression  of  simplicity 
and  naturalness,  never  reached  maturity ;  of  Masaccio's 
disciple,  Filippo  Lippi,  in  whom  the  life,  the  light,  and 
the  laughter  of  the  gayer  side  of  the  Renaissance  spirit 
was  typified ;  of  Benozzo  Gozzoli,  the  great  Renaissance 
landscape  painter,  who  also  produced  the  fresco  decora- 
tions in  the  chapel  of  the  Palazzo  Medici,  where  in 
a  procession  representing  the  visit  of  the  Magi  the 
members  of  the  Medici  family  were  introduced, — of  all 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         121 

these  the  best  work,  and  the  best  only,  was  cherished 
by  him  with  a  loving  reverence  that  evinced  the  true 
friend. 

Even  in  music  Cosimo's  interest  was  deep,  and  he 
laboured  earnestly  for  the  reform  of  Italian  harmony, 
especially  in  its  mass  compositions.  At  this  ^time  Italy 
had  no  native  school  of  music,  but  was  dependent  on 
Flemish  composers  for  her  church  service.  Cosimo 
was  the  first  to  urge  the  acceptance  of  the  Flemish 
style  of  contrapuntal  or  figured  harmony  in  the  service 
of  the  mass,  and  would  have  brought  Ockenheim  of 
Hainault,  or  his  pupil  Josquin  Despres,  to  Florence 
had  he  been  supported.  Not  till  Despres  had  won  a 
European  fame,  years  after  Cosimo's  death,  was  it  that 
his  townsmen  realised  how  far  ahead  of  his  time  their 
great  citizen-ruler  had  been. 

But  why  multiply  more  instances  of  Cosimo's  public- 
spiritedness  and  his  zeal  for  the  fostering  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance  ?  To  him  his  descendants  and  his  city  owed 
the  distinguished  place  they  occupied  in  the  forefront 
of  the  "  Revival  of  Learning."  Granted  that  the  Tuscan 
temperament,  by  its  acuteness,  its  keen  intellectual 
acquisitiveness,  its  airiness  and  brightness,  its  Greek 
love  of  light,  life,  and  colour,  was  peculiarly  adapted 
for  the  reception  and  absorption  of  Renaissance  prin- 
ciples ;  on  the  other  hand,  a  patron  was  needed  who  to 
munificence  would  unite  a  cultured  taste  with  regard 
to  the  various  arts  and  pursuits,  so  as  to  foster  progress 
with  discrimination.  Not  every  man  who  proclaimed 
himself  a  Renaissance  scholar  or  painter  was  fitted  to 
advance  the  movement  along  its  best  lines  of  develop- 
ment. Cosimo  showed  great  discrimination  in  his 
patronage.  Though  he  might  and  did  assist  nearly  all 


122    MEDICI  AND   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE 

who  claimed  his  bounty,  he  distinguished,  by  his  com- 
missions to  produce  work  for  his  own  use  or  pleasure, 
only  those  who  were  representative  by  their  eminence 
as  well  as  by  their  style.  Miss  Dorothea  Ewart's  sum- 
ming is  both  incisive  and  accurate :  "  In  spite  of  his 
cold  manner  and  cynical  wit  it  is  plain  that  there  was 
nothing  which  Cosimo  understood  better  than  the  art 
of  popularity.  He  was  popular  with  all  that  was 
highest  and  best  in  the  intellectual  life  of  the  day 
with  which  he  was  deeply  in  sympathy.  .  .  .  Cosimo's 
wisdom  taught  him  how  to  identify  himself  with  all 
their  interests,  to  make  himself  appear  to  his  fellow- 
citizens  as  the  Florentine  among  Florentines."  That 
was  his  claim  to  remembrance.  But  if  after  death  he 
were  honoured  with  the  title  "  Father  of  his  Country," 
with  equal  reason,  in  view  of  what  he  did  for  letters, 
may  he  be  styled  "  The  Foster-father  of  the  Florentine 
Renaissance." 


CHAPTER   IV 
THE  AGE  OF  PIERO  DE'  MEDICI,  1419-1469 

POPES — Martin  v.,  1417  ;  Eugenius  iv.,  1431 ;  Nicholas  v.,  1447 ; 
Calixtus  in.,  1455  ;  Pius  II.,  1458  ;  Paul  II.,  1464. 

THIS  period  is  necessarily  a  very  short  one,  being 
merely  the  intercalary  years  between  the  great  epoch 
of  Cosimo  and  the  greater  one  of  Lorenzo.  Piero  was 
constitutionally  very  delicate.  His  life  was  one  pro- 
longed struggle  with  gout,  hence  his  sobriquet  II 
Gottoso.  Not  that  he  was  destitute  of  ability.  Though 
in  earlier  years  overshadowed  by  his  more  brilliant 
brother  Giovanni,  whose  interest  in  the  Renaissance 
assumed  the  nature  almost  of  a  passion,  and  whose 
death  in  1463  was,  as  we  have  seen,  so  profoundly 
mourned  by  his  father,  still  Piero  evinced  himself  a 
cultured  patron  of  the  arts,  the  friend  and  associate  of 
all  the  scholars  of  the  day,  and  one  who  delighted  in 
the  productions  of  Italian  genius. 

As  a  man  of  affairs,  however,  his  infirmities  pre- 
vented him  keeping  that  masterful  hand  upon  the 
jealousies  of  his  rivals,  who,  singularly  enough,  were 
not  all  recruited  from  the  ranks  of  his  political  enemies. 
Luca  Pitti,  Diotisalvi  Neroni,  Niccolo  Soderini,  and 
Agnolo  Acciaiuoli  were  all  of  them  prominent  Medicean 

123 


124  THE  MEDICI  AND 

supporters,  yet,  as  we  shall  see,  they  one  and  all 
plotted  against  Piero.  No  critic  of  the  epoch  can  deny 
that  the  Medicean  rule  weakened  during  Piero's  tenure 
of  the  family  honours,  yet  when  occasion  urged  he 
could  throw  aside  his  constitutional  predilection  for 
retirement  and  act  promptly  and  decisively.  He  had 
married  Lucrezia  Tornabuoni,  the  daughter  of  a  noble 
Florentine  house  which  had  allowed  its  rank  to  lapse 
in  order  to  devote  itself  to  public  office.  A  woman  of 
immense  intellectual  power  and  wide  culture,  she  kept 
herself  abreast  of  all  the  politics  and  scholarship  of 
the  day,  and  became  a  potent  because  invisible  agent  in 
achieving  the  purposes  of  the  party.  Like  her  father- 
in-law  she  was  sincerely  religious,  her  hymns,  written 
in  seasons  of  spiritual  exaltation  and  depression,  being 
capable  even  yet  of  being  read  with  pleasure  ;  while  her 
many-sided  interest  in  letters  may  be  judged  from  the 
fact  that  she  was  the  friend  of  Ficino,  and  was  deeply 
read  in  Platonism ;  also  that  Luigi  Pulci's  great  poem 
II  Morgante  Maggiore  was  produced  in  consequence  of 
her  warm  encouragement  and  praise.  Delighting  in 
Humanistic  studies  herself,  and  following  the  progress 
of  the  Renaissance  with  an  eager  sympathy  rare  among 
her  sex  of  that  age,  along  with  Giovanni,  her  brother- 
in-law,  she  was  her  father-in-law's  chief  assistant  in 
carrying  out  his  far-reaching  schemes  of  benevolent 
patronage  towards  the  chief  exponents  of  Renaissance 
literature  and  art.  Her  husband's  weak  health  ren- 
dered necessary  her  appearance  in  political  and  literary 
affairs  to  a  greater  degree  than  was  customary  for 
women  at  that  time.  Between  the  years  1463-1470 
— or,  in  other  words,  after  the  death  of  Giovanni, 
Cosimo's  younger  son,  and  the  date  when  her  own  son 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         125 

Lorenzo  was  able  to  assume  the  honours  and  responsi- 
bilities attached  to  the  position  of  head  of  the  house  of 
Medici — Lucrezia  Tornabuoni  virtually  ruled  Florence. 

Her  patronage  was  wide  and  at  the  same  time  dis- 
criminating. Scholars,  poets,  both  Latin  and  Italian, 
painters,  sculptors,  architects,  workers  in  gems  and 
metals  were  all  recipients  of  her  bounty.  By  her 
Piero  was  entirely  guided,  while  until  her  death,  in 
1481,  Lorenzo  always  consulted  her  on  intricate 
developments  of  policy.  The  services  of  Piero  to  the 
Renaissance  would  have  been  small  indeed,  had  he  not 
had  a  wife  who  was  able  to  relieve  him  of  the  larger 
share  of  the  burden  when  his  health  was  bad. 
Cosimo's  incisive  saying  about  her,  "She  is  the  best 
man  amongst  us,"  was  a  tribute  to  her  keen  insight 
into  the  men  and  manners  of  her  day. 

The  one  point  of  historic  interest  in  the  life  of  Piero 
is  the  unexpected  vigour  wherewith  he  dealt  with  the 
attack  on  the  house  of  Medici  by  Pitti  and  his  asso- 
ciates. To  Lucrezia,  however,  belongs  the  credit  of 
devising  the  policy  which  really  caused  the  miscarriage 
of  this  dangerous  conspiracy.  Old  Luca  Pitti  had  been 
"  Cosimo's  figurehead."  The  latter,  as  we  have  seen, 
preferred  to  remain  in  the  background,  therefore  all 
things  affecting  the  Government  of  Florence  were  done 
in  the  name  of  Pitti,  until  by  many  people,  and  at 
length  apparently  by  himself  as  well,  he  was  regarded 
as  the  real  head  of  the  State. 

When  Cosimo  died,  Pitti  thought  he  should  have 
been  made  the  ruler  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name,  in  place 
of  which  the  government  was  quietly  transferred  to 
Piero.  That  such  a  course  was  gall  and  wormwood  to 
the  ambitious  old  schemer,  to  whom  popular  fame  and 


126  THE  MEDICI  AND 

applause  were  as  the  breath  of  his  nostrils,  may  well  be 
imagined.  He  therefore  proceeded  to  plot  with  three 
others  of  the  leading  men  in  the  Medicean  circle — Agnolo 
Acciaiuoli,  Niccolo  Soderini,  and  Diotisalvi  Neroni — to 
oust  the  family  from  the  rule  of  the  city.  At  the  annual 
election  of  the  Signory  in  1466  the  plot  came  to  a  head. 
This  ceremony  always  took  place  on  28th  August,  and 
the  new  body  took  office  on  1st  September.  It  was 
in  reality  the  first  favourable  opportunity  that  pre- 
sented itself  since  the  death  of  Cosimo.  That  event 
took  place  on  1st  August  1464,  but  the  elections  for  that 
year  and  the  succeeding  one  were  influenced  by  the 
recollection  of  the  services  rendered  by  the  "  Father  of 
his  Country."  In  the  meantime,  however,  Piero,  listen- 
ing to  the  treacherous  advice  of  Neroni — his  father's 
friend — decided  to  call  in  all  the  loans  made  by  the 
Medicean  banking-house.  Against  the  will  of  Lucrezia 
this  was  done,  and  as  a  consequence  Florentine  financial 
credit  was  shaken  to  its  foundation.  Then  it  was  that 
Pitti  delivered  his  blow, — the  first  thing  which  roused 
Piero  from  his  apathetic  confidence  that  all  was  well. 
He  saw  Neroni's  object  in  urging  him  to  call  in  his 
debts,  but  by  a  clever  move  he  somewhat  neutralised 
the  effect  of  the  intimation  by  the  public  proclamation 
that  the  loans  were  only  recalled  for  the  purpose  of 
being  re-registered  and  granted  anew  on  more  favour- 
able terms.  Though  this  later  announcement  checked 
the  panic  to  a  great  extent,  the  Medicean  house  lost 
heavily  alike  in  money  and  prestige. 

To  pursue  the  details  of  the  plot  further  would  be 
beside  our  purpose.  Suffice  to  say,  the  "  Pitti  faction  " 
was  beaten  all  along  the  line,  largely  by  the  energy  of 
young  Lorenzo  and  the  wise  foresight  of  Lucrezia.  A 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         127 

Signory  favourable  to  the  Medici  was  elected,  and  the 
plotters  were  banished,  with  the  exception  of  Luca 
Pitti,  who  remained  to  drag  out  an  indigent  and  dis- 
honoured old  age. 

At  such  seasons  of  political  excitement  letters  lan- 
guish. Immediately  on  civic  quiet  being  restored, 
Florence  reverted  to  her  former  ways,  and  the  culture 
of  letters  and  the  arts  pursued  their  even  course  of 
progress.  Little  change  is  to  be  detected  between 
the  policy  pursued  by  Cosimo  towards  Humanists  and 
the  Renaissance  and  that  affected  by  his  son.  Piero 
and  his  wife  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  Cosimo,  keep- 
ing in  view  the  same  literary  aims  and  encouraging  by 
their  patronage  the  same  men.  In  consequence,  they 
have  been  somewhat  overshadowed  by  the  splendour  of 
Cosimo's  reputation  on  the  one  hand,  and  by  that  of 
Lorenzo  on  the  other.  Between  his  own  father  and 
his  own  son  the  faint  figure  of  Piero  almost  disappears 
from  view.  One  great  writer,  however,  the  greatest  in 
the  Italian-Latin  literature  of  the  Renaissance  period, 
and  amongst  the  greatest  in  Italian  literature  as  a 
whole,  owed  his  first  start  on  the  ladder  of  fame  to 
Piero  and  Lucrezia.  She  it  was  who  discerned  the 
nascent  genius  of  Poliziano,  when,  as  a  boy  of  ten, 
he  was  sent  for  his  education  to  Florence  from  his 
native  Montepulciano.  She  insisted  on  him  having  the 
best  teachers  of  the  day  for  his  instructors,  namely, 
Ficino  and  Landino,  and  commended  the  boy  to  the 
kindly  care  of  both.  For  this  mark  of  favour,  Poliziano 
never  ceased  to  be  grateful.  When  his  patron  Lorenzo, 
many  years  later,  lay  a-dying,  the  great  Italian 
poet-Humanist  said,  with  a  burst  of  intense  emotion : 
"  To  the  Medici  I  owe  all  I  have  become ;  uiy  patron's 


128  THE  MEDICI  AND 

sainted  mother  Lucrezia  honoured  me,  a  boy,  with  her 
interest  and  friendship,  and  if  my  own  life  would  be 
accepted  now  in  lieu  of  her  son's  I  would  gladly  sur- 
render it." 

Another  feature  to  be  noted  as  characteristic  of  the 
"age"  of  Piero  is  that  during  the  five  years  of  his 
tenure  of  power  there  was  a  continued  increase  of 
interest  perceptible  in  the  study  of  Plato  and  Aristotle, 
— not  the  Aristotle  of  the  schoolmen,  but  the  Aristotle 
as  we  know  him  to-day.  Marsiglio  Ficino  and  Cristo- 
foro  Landino  were  the  rival  leaders  of  Florentine 
scholarship,  if  rivalry  could  exist  between  those  who 
were  the  closest  of  friends  and  whose  sole  subject  of 
difference  lay  in  this,  that  the  spiritual  temperament 
of  the  one  led  him  to  prefer  Plato,  and  the  practical 
scholarly  instincts  of  the  other  —  Aristotle.  Each 
accordingly  devoted  himself  to  the  elucidation  of  the 
text  and  tenets  of  his  favourite  philosopher.  Leo 
Battista  Alberti  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  orna- 
ments of  Piero's  circle,  as  he  had  also  been  in  that  of 
Cosimo ;  and  to  the  epoch  of  the  latter  must  be  assigned 
those  remarkable  experiments  in  mechanics,  with  that 
invention  of  the  apparatus  for  raising  sunken  ships, 
which  actually  anticipated  the  process  now  employed 
to  achieve  that  end.  With  Piero,  Alberti  was  on  terms 
of  intimate  friendship,  the  latter  frequently  commend- 
ing him  to  the  care  of  his  sons,  should  the  old  man 
chance  to  survive  him.  To  Piero,  also,  Benedetto 
Accolti — the  successor  of  Poggio  in  the  Chancellorship 
of  Florence — dedicated  his  History  of  the  Wars  between 
the  Christians  and  the  Infidels,  and  in  doing  so  pays 
a  warm  tribute  to  his  munificent  patronage  of  learning. 
Donate  Acciaiuoli  also  inscribed  many  of  his  works 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         129 

"  to  my  friend  and  master  Piero  "  ;  while  in  the  Lauren- 
tian  Library  at  Florence  there  is  a  poem,  De  Ccetu 
Poetarum,  the  work  of  Francesco  Ottavio,  a  writer  well 
known  in  his  day,  in  the  dedication  of  which  he  repre- 
sents his  patron  Piero  as  surpassing  the  example  of 
his  father  in  his  attention  to  the  cause  of  literature 
and  in  his  kindness  to  its  professors.1  The  patronage  of 
Humanist  scholarship,  therefore,  suffered  no  diminution 
during  the  rule  of  Piero.  At  the  time  of  the  civic 
revolution  which  transferred  the  reins  of  power  from 
the  hands  of  the  Albizzi  to  the  Medici  there  had  been, 
as  we  pointed  out,  a  temporary  eclipse  of  Renaissance 
studies.  The  scholarly  and  cultured  Palla  degli  Strozzi, 
and  a  little  later  the  eloquent  Gianozzo  Manetti, 
along  with  Filelfo,  were  all  obliged  to  leave  Florence. 
But  the  Pitti  conspiracy  was  countenanced  by  none 
of  the  great  scholars,  and  in  consequence  not  a  single 
Humanist  was  exiled. 

Piero's  rule  was  also  notable  owing  to  the  number  of 
Roman  illuminati  who  sought  refuge  in  Valdarno 
from  the  insecurity  they  felt  on  the  banks  of  the  Tiber. 
The  pontificate  of  Paul  n.  (1464-1471)  was  rendered 
memorable  by  the  antagonism  he  displayed  towards 
Humanism  and  secular  learning  as  a  whole.  He  dis- 
missed nearly  all  the  learned  men,  who  had  found 
employment  at  Rome  in  the  capacity  of  Papal  Secre- 
taries, Abbre viators,  etc.,  and  supplied  their  places  by 
monks.  To  these  fugitives,  some  of  them  men  marked 
out  for  special  punishment  by  the  irate  pontiff,  Piero 
and  his  wife  extended  help,  and  in  many  cases  main- 
tenance, much  to  the  indignation  of  the  vindictive  Pope. 

1  Guicciardini,  Ricordi,  vol.  i. ;  Vespas.,  Fior.,  p.  119;  Muratori, 
xx.  col.  1110. 


130  THE  MEDICI  AND 

Piero's  term  of  power,  then,  was  merely  what  might 
be  called  an  "  entr'acte  "  between  the  splendid  spectac- 
ular glories  of  Cosimo's  and  of  Lorenzo's  rule.  Had 
health  permitted,  Piero  might  certainly  have  left  his 
mark  on  his  age.  He  was  a  man  endowed  with  facul- 
ties far  from  mediocre — faculties,  moreover,  which  he 
assiduously  cultured,  as  far  as  suffering  would  permit,  by 
reading  and  study.  Printing  really  reached  Italy  in  his 
days.  Maintz,  as  is  well  known,  had  been,  if  not  the 
birthplace  of  printing — for  Haarlem's  claims  seem  now 
to  be  generally  admitted — at  least  the  place  where  the 
infant  art  had  attained  its  greatest  hold.  In  1462 
the  sack  of  Maintz  by  Adolf  of  Nassau  scattered  its 
printers  over  well-nigh  the  whole  of  Europe.  Several 
of  these  craftsmen  came  to  Italy,  where  they  established 
themselves  first  at  Subiaco  and  afterwards  in  various 
centres  throughout  the  peninsula.  Evidence  is  now 
extant  showing  that  Piero,  with  a  far-sightedness  in- 
ferior to  none  of  his  race,  wrote  to  Bernardino  Cennini 
of  Florence  and  John  of  Maintz,  promising  not  only  to 
take  them  under  his  protection,  but  to  provide  for 
them  until  they  obtained  a  connection.  Cennini  was 
not  able  to  accept  the  offer  until  1471,  and  John  of 
Maintz  until  the  following  year — both  of  them,  alas ! 
after  Piero  had  passed  away.  To  Lorenzo,  therefore, 
has  been  accorded  the  credit  which,  properly  speaking, 
belongs  to  his  father. 

Piero's  work,  as  a  whole,  is  little  more  than  a 
preliminary  preparation  for  the  greater  glory  invest- 
ing his  son's  epoch.  In  Cosimo,  the  Florentines  had 
recognised  a  great  political  and  diplomatic  genius, 
whose  policy  had  saved  them  from  being  overwhelmed 
by  jealous  rivals.  A  greater  than  Cosimo  was  now  to 


THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         131 

arise  in  the  person  of  his  grandson;  for  view  his 
achievements  how  we  may,  there  can  be  no  two 
opinions  about  the  question,  that  seldom  has  a  more 
versatile  or  many-sided  genius  appeared  on  this  earth 
than — Lorenzo  de'  Medici. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  AGE  OF  LORENZO  DE'  MEDICI  (!L  MAGNIFICO), 
1449-1492 

SECTION  1. — Lorenzo's  Early  Years 
POPES— Nicholas  v.,  1447;  Pius  II.,  1458  ;  Paul  n.,  1464 

To  few  men  has  either  the  power  or  the  opportunity 
been  given  to  influence  their  epoch,  intellectually  and 
politically,  to  a  degree  so  marked  as  was  the  lot  of 
Lorenzo  de'  Medici.  One  of  the  most  marvellously 
many-sided  of  the  many-sided  men  who  adorned  the 
Italy  of  the  fifteenth  century,  he  did  more  to  place 
Florence  in  the  forefront  of  the  world's  culture  than 
any  other  citizen  who  claimed  "  Valdarno  "  as  his  birth- 
place. His  influence  was  great  because  he  was  in 
sympathy  so  catholic  with  all  the  varied  life  of  his  age 
and  circle.1  While  during  the  one  hour  he  would  be 
found  learnedly  discussing  the  rival  claims  of  the 
Platonic  and  Aristotelian  philosophers  with  Ficino  and 
Landino,  the  next  might  witness  him  the  foremost 
reveller  in  the  Florentine  carnival,  crowned  with 
flowers  and  with  the  wine-cup  in  his  hand,  gaily 
carolling  the  ballate  he  had  composed  for  the  occasion ; 

1  Cf.  Symonds,  vols.  i.,  ii.,  and  iv. ;  Roscoe's  and  Armstrong's  Lives  of 

Lorenzo. 

132 


THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         133 

while  the  third  might  behold  him  surrounded  by  the 
leading  painters  and  sculptors  of  Tuscany  discoursing 
profoundly  on  the  aims  and  mission  of  art.  Truly  a 
unique  personality,  at  one  and  the  same  time  the 
glorious  creation  and  the  splendid  epitome  of  the 
spirit  of  the  Renaissance ! 

Lorenzo  de'  Medici  was  born  on  1st  January  1449, 
when  the  second  great  period  of  the  Renaissance  was 
nearing  its  close, — that  period  of  arrangement  and 
translation,  the  epoch  of  the  formation  of  the  great 
Italian  libraries,  the  age  when  in  Florence  around  his 
grandfather  Cosimo,  in  Rome  around  Pope  Nicholas 
V.,  and  in  Naples  around  Alfonso  the  Magnanimous, 
coteries  of  the  leading  Humanists  were  gathered, 
engaged  in  labours  which  have  made  posterity  eter- 
nally their  debtors.  He  was  early  introduced  to  the 
best  culture  of  the  time.  No  sooner  was  he  able  to 
talk  distinctly  than  his  mother,  Lucrezia  Tornabuoni, 
placed  him  under  the  care  of  the  celebrated  Gentile 
Becchi  of  Urbino,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Arezzo,  a  man 
who  had  acquired  his  vast  learning  at  one  of  the  most 
famous  centres  of  Humanistic  scholarship  in  Italy — 
the  Court  of  Federigo  of  Montefeltro.  Gentile  may 
have  been  a  pedant  in  some  things.  He  was  able,  at 
all  events,  to  instil  a  love  of  poetry — Latin  and  Italian 
— into  the  mind  of  Lorenzo,  which  eventually  bore 
fruit  in  the  rich  harvest  of  the  Selve  d'Amore,  the 
Ambra,  the  Eclogues  of  Corinto,  the  Nencia  da 
Barberino,  etc.  As  he  grew  older,  Argyropoulos,  the 
Byzantine  exile,  became  his  instructor  in  Greek,  while 
Ficino  initiated  him  into  the  mysteries  of  Plato,  and 
Landino  into  those  of  Aristotle.1 

1  Paulus  Jovius,  Eloyia  ;  Poliziano,  Sonetti. 


134  THE  MEDICI   AND 

Lorenzo,  in  youth  as  well  as  in  age,  was  a  hard 
student.  With  him  the  pursuit  of  learning  was  a 
passion ;  and  as  he  had  a  singularly  acute  and  active 
mind,  though  he  acquired  knowledge  easily,  he  retained 
it  tenaciously.  Not  only  was  he  a  scholar,  he  was 
an  athlete  in  addition.  Running,  leaping,  swimming, 
horsemanship — in  all  he  was  proficient.  He  was  one 
of  the  best  j  ousters  in  Florence,  a  good  football  player, 
and  the  champion  of  the  game  of  fives — called  in 
Tuscany  pallone.  His  dogs,  his  hawks,  his  horses 
were  in  each  case  the  best  procurable,  and  were  in- 
variably trained  by  himself.  He  had  an  infinite 
capacity  for  taking  pains,  and  to  him  is  attributed 
the  Italian  form  of  the  familiar  saying — "  Whatever 
is  worth  doing  is  worth  doing  well."  In  a  word, 
Lorenzo  appears  to  have  been  one  of  those  rarely  gifted 
natures,  the  special  product  of  the  Renaissance,  when 
it  was  still  possible  to  master  the  entire  round  of 
human  knowledge.  Well  for  him  that  he  lived  in  the 

o 

large  and  spacious  age  of  the  Renaissance,  and  that 
his  free  and  liberty-loving  spirit  was  not  immured  in 
the  prison-house  of  Scholasticism  or  in  the  cage  of 
specialism !  Lorenzo's  genius,  if  cabined  or  confined 
in  either  way,  would  assuredly  have  made  lamentable 
shipwreck  of  itself. 

His  portrait  by  Giorgio  Vasari,  as  it  looks  down  on 
us  from  the  walls  of  the  Uffizzi  Gallery,  conveys  the 
impression  of  a  personality  in  which  iron  inflexibility 
of  purpose  is  combined  with  a  sagacious  shrewdness 
almost  akin  to  slyness.  The  face  is  long  and  oval- 
shaped,  the  nose  inclined  if  anything  to  the  snub,  the 
forehead  low,  but  the  occiput  abnormally  developed ; 
the  cheek-bones  liigh,  while  the  mouth  projects  so 


THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         135 

much,  owing  to  an  osseous  formation  below  the  nose, 
as  to  approach  somewhat  to  the  simian  type ;  the  eyes 
are  brown,  and,  as  his  friend  relates,  were  singularly 
soft  and  winning  in  their  glance,  but  so  weak  as  to  be 
constantly  winking.  In  stature  Lorenzo  was  tall,  with 
a  lithe,  muscular  figure  and  dignified  carriage  and 
deportment,  while  in  manners  he  was  courteous  and 
affable,  accessible  to  all :  "  I  am  a  Florentine,"  he  was 
wont  to  say,  "  and  a  Florentine  is  a  citizen  of  the 
world."  Though  far  from  being  what  would  be  called 
"  a  handsome  man,"  for  his  features  were  so  irregular 
as  to  be  coarse,  he  was  one  who  always  attracted 
attention ;  and  though  his  voice  was  so  hoarse  as  to 
be  almost  harsh  in  its  tones,  yet  as  an  orator  the  ex- 
cellence of  the  matter  so  counterbalanced  any  trifling 
defects  in  the  manner,  that,  in  the  words  of  Landino, 
"  one  could  listen  to  him  a  summer's  day  and  curse 
the  necessity  that  caused  him  to  break  off  the  treat." 

From  earliest  boyhood  Lorenzo  was  exceedingly 
susceptible  to  literary  and  artistic  impressions.  In 
Florence,  during  the  early  years  of  his  life,  Humanism, 
as  we  have  seen,  had  been  steadily  progressing  under 
the  encouragement,  first  of  his  grandfather  Cosimo, 
and  then  of  his  father  Piero  and  his  mother  Lucrezia. 
From  about  1449,  the  year  of  his  birth,  until  1464, 
when  Cosimo  died,  the  advance  in  scholarship  and 
general  culture  was  persistent  and  uniform.  All 
branches  of  learning  had  felt  the  beneficent  influence 
of  Cosimo's  patronage,  and  after  he  died  his  son  and 
daughter-in-law  had  carried  on  the  traditions  of  the 
great  house  with  a  public-spirited  munificence  that 
proclaimed  them  worthy  successors  of  the  "  Father  of 
his  Country." 


136  THE  MEDICI   AND 

In  youth  Lorenzo  took  as  his  model  his  uncle 
Giovanni,  who,  if  we  can  gauge  possible  fulfilment  by 
the  potentiality  of  promise,  would  have  been  the 
greatest  of  the  Medici.  The  lad  noted  the  cuJ  cured 
ease  and  dignified  affability  wherewith  Cosimo's 
favourite  son  bore  himself  in  his  difficult  station. 
Giovanni  was  able  to  impress  his  individuality  on  the 
age,  without  seeming  to  throw  his  valetudinarian 
but  still  much-beloved  elder  brother  into  the  shade. 
Assuredly  he  was  a  marvellously  gifted  youth,  who 
well  merited  all  the  panegyrics  showered  on  him  by 
Pope  Pius  II.  (^Eneas  Sylvius)  and  the  other  Humanists 
who  wrote  to  console  the  heart-broken  father. 

Lorenzo,  as  has  been  said,  studied  the  springs  of  his 
uncle's  character.  "  As  he  was  I  wish  to  be  "  was  his 
remark  to  Ficino.  "  Nay,"  said  the  latter,  "  consider  no 
state  a  station  wherein  to  remain,  but  press  on  to  the 
higher  heights  beyond."  To  rival  his  uncle's  fame 
became  Lorenzo's  ambition.  After  he  had  escaped  from 
the  tutelage  of  pedagogues  and  preceptors  his  studies 
were  pursued  with  even  greater  intensity  than  before. 

Nor  was  his  prevision  regarding  his  own  future  at 
fault.  He  was  early  taught  to  read  the  political  "  signs 
of  the  times,"  and  he  would  have  been  blind  indeed  had 
he  failed  to  realise  the  high  mission  to  which  he  was 
called.  The  demand  came  suddenly  at  the  last. 
Lorenzo  was  summoned  to  assume  the  chief  power 
in  the  Republic  of  Florence  some  twenty  days  before 
he  crossed  the  Rubicon  of  his  majority.  But  during 
his  father's  lifetime  he  had  shown  himself  possessed  of 
such  outstanding  diplomatic  ability,  more  particularly 
in  the  manner  in  which  he  handled  the  negotiations 
arising  out  of  the  Milanese-Neapolitan  marriage,  by 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         137 

which  Alfonso,  Duke  of  Calabria,  heir  of  King  Ferrante 
of  Naples,  wedded  Ippolyta  Maria,  daughter  of 
Francesco  Sforza  of  Milan,  and  in  the  consummate  skill 
wherewith  he  defeated  the  machinations  of  the  Pitti- 
Neroni  conspirators,  that  no  apprehension  was  felt  in 
inviting  one  so  young  to  accept  a  charge  so  responsible. 
When  Piero  died,  in  December  1469,  the  Signory 
of  Florence  to  a  man  came  and  entreated  Lorenzo  to 
assume  the  position  his  father  and  grandfather  had 
occupied  of  "  First  Citizen  "  of  the  Republic.  That  the 
influence  of  Tornmaso  Soderini  and  the  Pitti  family 
were  exerted  on  his  behalf  is  more  than  probable,  yet 
the  singular  circumstance  is,  that  of  opposition  there 
was  none.  Lorenzo  hesitated,  and  has  been  accused 
of  affectation  for  so  doing.  Those  who  urge  this  charge 
fail  to  apprehend  the  real  motives  of  Lorenzo.  His 
conduct  was  not  dictated  by  that  pseudo-modesty 
which  refuses,  only  that  it  may  be  pressed  to  adopt 
some  line  of  action  it  had  intended  all  through  to  take. 
Everything,  on  the  contrary,  points  to  the  conviction 
that  Lorenzo's  real  hesitation  resulted  from  his  doubt 
whether  the  better  course  would  not  be  to  assume  the 
nominal  with  the  actual  rank,  and,  like  Sforza,  become  a 
ruler  in  name  as  well  as  in  fact.  The  position  of  "  First 
Citizen"  was  one  of  great  anxiety  and  responsibility. 
Had  it  any  countervailing  advantages  ?  These  are  not 
found  to  be  by  any  means  commensurate  to  the  burdens 
entailed,  unless  stress  is  laid  upon  the  fact  that  holding 
the  position — if  such  it  can  be  called — his  own  personal 
safety,  his  wealth,  and  his  vast  commercial  interests 
were  thereby  preserved  from  the  attacks  of  jealous 
rivals.  He  had  to  protect  himself,  and  only  in  this  way 
could  he  do  so. 


138  THE  MEDICI  AND 

But  what  was  the  "  position  "  ?  Very  pertinently  is 
the  question  answered  by  Mr.  Armstrong l — 

"  What  this  place  was  it  would  have  heen  difficult  to  define 
in  words.  It  entailed  no  official  position,  no  State  magistracy, 
the  command  of  not  a  soldier  nor  a  policeman.  No  single 
citizen  was  subjected  to  their  orders.  Ostensibly  they  were 
wealthy  bankers,  and  no  more.  The  constitutional  executive 
could  ruin  them  with  taxation  at  its  arbitrary  will ;  it  could 
trump  up  charges  and  send  them  into  exile,  or  to  the  Bargello 
for  execution ;  it  could  summon  them  to  the  palace  and  throw 
them  with  scant  form  of  trial  from  the  upper  windows  on  the 
pavement,  and  many  of  the  citizens  would  have  cried  '  Well 
done  ! '  Yet  everyone  knew  that  the  nameless  position  thus 
offered  was  that  of  princes;  that  the  Medici  were  gradually 
taking  their  place  among  the  Signori  naturali,  the  born  lords 
of  Italy ;  that  the  citizen's  fortunes,  his  home  and  life,  were  at 
their  mercy,  for  the  electoral  boxes  were  filled  with  the  names 
of  their  creatures,  while  the  assessment  rolls  and  the  courts  of 
law  would  be  unscrupulously  used  to  favour  or  to  ruin.  The 
position,  however,  was  as  dangerous  as  it  was  tempting,  and  its 
acceptance  by  a  youth  of  twenty  who  had  intimate  knowledge 
of  its  dangers  required  some  nerve." 

It  was  the  realisation  of  these  dangers  and  risks — 
risks  which  had  to  be  faced  without  any  commensurate 
return  even  if  they  were  successfully  surmounted — that 
led  Lorenzo  to  ask  himself  whether  his  position  would 
not  be  better  safeguarded  were  he  ruler  of  Florence  in 
name  as  well  as  in  form. 

But  when  he  sounded  Soderini  and  his  friends  about 
the  project  he  realised  the  hour  had  not  yet  come.  His 
descendants  might  become  Grand  Dukes  of  Tuscany : 
for  his  part  he  would  have  to  remain  "  First  Citizen  of 

1  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  chap.  iii.  p.  86  ("  Heroes  of  the  Nations  Series  "). 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         139 

the  Florentine  Republic."  Accordingly  he  accepted  the 
invitation  of  the  Signory  to  assume  "the  position 
held  by  his  father  and  grandfather,"  as  it  was  vaguely 
defined  in  the  minute  of  Council. 

This  acceptance  took  place  in  December  1469,  and 
until  April  1492,  when  he  died  at  the  early  age  of 
forty-two,  he  ruled  Florence  and  held  "  the  Balance  of 
Power  "  in  Italy,  with  a  political  prevision  of  well-nigh 
all  adverse  contingencies,  united  to  a  diplomatic 
adroitness,  which  stamp  him  as  one  of  the  greatest 
of  European  statesmen.  True,  he  never  displayed  the 
Machiavelian  craft  and  cunning  of  Richelieu  or  the 
management  of  men  wherein  Mazarin  was  unequalled, 
but  he  excelled  both  the  great  cardinals  in  keen, 
almost  preternatural,  insight  into  the  remotest  issues 
of  those  principles  of  government  in  accordance  with 
which  he  ruled.  If  he  had  not  Sully's  iron  inflexibility 
of  purpose,  nor  Alberoni's  patriotic  selfishness  and 
cynical  disregard  of  consequences  provided  his  own 
country  were  safe,  he  surpassed  both  as  a  marvellous 
master  of  expedients  for  safeguarding  his  State,  sur- 
passed them,  in  fine,  in  the  exhaustless  fertility  of  his 
political  resources,  and  in  the  wonderful  rapidity 
wherewith  he  could  change  his  entire  policy  and 
defeat  subtilty  with  its  own  weapons. 

No  easy  role  was  that  he  had  to  play.  His  grand- 
father, as  we  saw,  had  deviated  from  the  traditional 
policy  of  Florence,  which  had  inculcated  alliance  with 
Venice  against  Milan,  and  had  "  educated "  the  people 
into  an  acceptance  of  the  new  diplomacy,  which 
enjoined  an  alliance  between  Florence  and  Milan 
against  Venice.  With  supreme  skill  Lorenzo  played 
the  same  game  on  the  political  chessboard,  and  literally 


140  THE  MEDICI   AND 

made  Florence  the  "  Keeper  of  the  Peace  of  Italy." 
When  his  master  hand  was  withdrawn  the  change 
became  apparent.  His  worthless  son  was  but  the  ass 
masquerading  in  the  skin  of  the  lion, — a  man  who,  to 
curry  favour  with  Charles  VIII.  of  France,  lost  in  a 
day  what  Cosimo  and  Lorenzo  had  wrought  half  a 
century  to  gain. 

Not  as  a  political  ruler,  however,  is  Lorenzo  to  be  the 
subject  of  our  study,  great  and  glorious  though  he  was 
in  that  capacity.  In  remarking,  as  has  been  done  above, 
that  his  rule  lasted  for  twenty-two  years,  and  that  it 
was  characterised  by  success  and  progress  as  regards 
both  the  domestic  and  foreign  relations  of  the  "  City  of 
the  Flower,"  we  really  say  all  there  is  to  say,  without 
going  minutely  into  the  details  of  his  State  policy. 
While  that  was  necessary  to  some  extent  in  the  case  of 
Cosimo,  because  at  the  outset  his  Renaissance  and  his 
political  ideas  were  very  often  complementary  to  each 
other,  no  such  reason  exists  in  the  case  of  Lorenzo.  In 
his  case  politics  and  letters  were  in  most  instances  kept 
rigidly  apart. 

The  era  of  Lorenzo  was  the  Augustan  age  of  Floren- 
tine literature  and  art.  It  is  therefore  the  chronicle  of 
his  work  as  the  Maecenas  of  his  age  that  we  desire  to 
relate  here,  only  touching  on  his  political  career  where 
necessary  to  cast  light  on  his  Renaissance  relations. 

SECTION  2. — Lorenzo's  Life  and  Labours  between 
1470-1480 

POPES — Paul  n.,  1464  ;   Sixtus  iv.,  1471 

When  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  consented  to  assume  the 
"  position  "  occupied  by  his  father  Piero  and  his  grand- 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         141 

father  Cosimo,  he  was  not  the  raw  youth  his  immature 
years  would  lead  one  to  suppose.  Although  intellectual 
maturity  is  reached  at  an  earlier  age  in  the  sunny 
South  than  in  the  fog-haunted  lands  of  Northern 
Europe,  Lorenzo  had  enjoyed  a  long  apprenticeship, 
before  being  called  to  undertake  the  duties  devolving 
on  him  as  the  uncrowned  King  of  Florence.  From  his 
thirteenth  year,  he  had  been  the  companion  and  shared 
the  counsels,  first  of  his  grandfather  and  father,  and 
subsequently  of  his  father  alone.  From  the  former 
especially,  he  learned  many  important  lessons  in  state- 
craft. The  matter  is  open  to  question,  however,  if  any 
advice  had  more  far-reaching  results  or  was  laid  more 
carefully  to  heart  than  this  which  is  contained  in  more 
than  one  of  Cosimo's  letters :  "  Never  stint  your  favours 
to  the  cause  of  learning,  and  cultivate  sedulously  the 
friendship  of  scholars  and  Humanists."  Towards  such 
a  course,  Lorenzo's  inclinations  as  well  as  his  interests 
pointed,  and,  during  his  life,  Florence  was  the  Athens 
not  only  of  Italy  but  of  Europe  as  a  whole.  Here, 
among  many  others,  were  to  be  found  such  "Epoch- 
makers"  as  Poliziano,  Ficino,  and  Landino,  Pico  della 
Mirandola,  Leo  Battista  Alberti,  Michael  Angelo,  Luigi 
Pulci, — men  who  glorified  their  age  by  crowning  it  with 
the  nimbus  of  their  genius. 

The  literary  and  artistic  greatness  of  Florence  was 
not  due,  however,  to  the  comparative  intellectual  poverty 
of  the  other  States  in  Italy.  Florence  was  only  primus 
inter  pares,  greatest  among  many  that  were  great. 
When  the  fact  is  recalled  that  such  contemporaries 
as  Pomponius  Laetus,  Bartolommeo  Sacchi,  Molza, 
Alessandro  Farnese  (Paul  in.),  Platina,  Sabellicus  at 
Rome;  Pontanus,  Sannazaro,  and  Porcello  in  Naples; 


142  THE  MEDICI  AND 

and  Pomponasso  and  Boiardo  at  Ferrara,  were  then  at 
or  nearing  their  prime,  the  position  of  Florence  as 
the  acknowledged  centre  of  European  culture  was 
conceded  by  sense  of  right  alone.1  Than  this  nothing 
proves  more  emphatically  the  strides  learning  had  been 
making.  It  was  no  longer  the  prerogative  of  the  few, 
but  the  privilege  of  the  many.  From  the  first,  Lorenzo 
recognised  what  a  strong  card  he  held  in  the  affection 
and  respect  of  the  Italian  as  well  as  of  the  Florentine 
Humanists. 

The  great  secret  of  Lorenzo's  pre-eminence  in 
European  and  Italian,  as  well  as  in  Tuscan  politics, 
lies  in  the  fact  that  he  was  able  to  unite  the  sources  of 
administrative,  legislative,  and  judicial  power  in  him- 
self. All  the  public  offices  in  Florence  were  held 
by  his  dependants,  and  so  entirely  was  the  State 
machinery  controlled  by  him,  that  we  find  such  men 
as  Louis  XI.  and  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  Alfonso 
of  Naples  and  Pope  Innocent  vm.,  recognising  his 
authority  and  appealing  to  him  personally  in  place  of 
to  the  Signory,  to  effect  the  ends  they  desired.  Such 
power  enabled  him  to  avoid  the  risks  his  grand- 
father Cosimo  had  been  compelled  to  run  to  maintain 
his  authority.  The  Medicean  faction  was  better  in 
hand  than  in  his  grandfather's  days,  and  Lorenzo  there- 
fore, in  playing  the  role  of  the  Peacemaker  of  Italy, 
at  the  time  when  he  held  the  "  Balance  of  Power " 
through  his  treaties  with  Milan,  Naples,  and  Ferrara, 
could  speak  with  a  decision  that  carried  weight,  when 
he  fouiyi  it  necessary  to  threaten  a  restless  "  despot " 
with  a  political  combination  that  might  depose  him. 

1  Cf.  Walter  Pater,  Renaissance ;  Yernon  Lee,  Euphorion;  Leo  Battista 
Alberti  (Biography). 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         143 

Lorenzo's  services  to  learning  were  inspired  by 
feelings  infinitely  more  noble  than  those  actuating 
his  political  plans.  A  patriotism  as  lofty  as  it  was 
beneficent  led  him  to  desire  that  his  country  should 
be  in  the  van  of  Italian  progress  in  Renaissance 
studies.  His  sagacious  prevision  enabled  him  to  pro- 
portion the  nature  and  extent  of  the  benefit  he  con- 
ferred, to  the  need  it  was  intended  to  supply.  Many 
statesmen  do  more  harm  than  good  by  failing  to 
appreciate  this  law  of  supply  and  demand.  They 
grant  more  than  is  required,  and  that  which  should 
have  been  a  boon  becomes  a  burden.  Charles  V.,  at 
the  time  of  the  Reformation,  on  more  than  one 
occasion  committed  this  error,  as  also  did  Wolsey 
and  Mazarin.  Lorenzo,  like  Richelieu,  recognised  the 
value  of  moderation  in  giving,  and  caused  every 
favour  to  be  regarded  as  a  possible  earnest  of  others 
to  come.1 

The  earlier  years  of  his  power  were  associated 
with  many  stirring  events  which  exercised  no  incon- 
siderable influence  on  the  state  of  learning.  For 
example,  his  skilful  playing  off  of  Duke  Galeazzo 
Maria  Sforza  of  Milan  against  Ferrante,  King  of 
Naples,  led  to  greater  attention  being  directed  by 
the  Florentines  to  Neapolitan  and  Milanese  affairs, 
with  the  result  that  Humanists  and  artists  from  both 
these  places  paid  frequent  visits  to  Florence,  where 
they  were  welcomed  by  Lorenzo  as  his  guests.  Then 
when  the  revolt  of  the  small  city  of  Volterra  from 
Florentine  rule  was  suppressed  by  Lorenzo's  agents, 
with  a  rigorous  severity  that  cast  a  stain  on  their 
master's  name,  owing  to  many  unoffending  scholars 
1Ammirato,  iii.  106-108;  Muratori,  Ann.,  ix.  508. 


144  THE  MEDICI  AND 

having  suffered  to  the  extent  of  losing  their  all, 
Lorenzo  made  noble  amends.  Not  only  did  he  gener- 
ously assist  the  inhabitants  to  repair  their  losses,  not 
only  did  he  make  grants  to  the  local  scholars  and 
send  them  copies  of  many  of  the  codices  in  his 
own  library  to  supply  the  loss  of  their  books  which 
had  been  burned  by  the  soldiery,  but  he  purchased 
large  estates  in  the  neighbourhood,  that  the  citizens 
might  benefit  by  his  residence  among  them.  In  this 
way,  too,  he  brought  the  Volterran  scholars  into  more 
intimate  relations  with  the  Florentine  Humanists,  and 
thus  contributed  to  the  further  diffusion  of  the  benefits 
of  the  Renaissance.1 

All  was  not  plain  sailing,  however,  as  regards  the 
progress  of  the  "  New  Learning."  Despite  his  efforts, 
Lorenzo  could  not  prevent  its  development  being 
checked  during  the  Papal-Neapolitan  quarrel  with 
Florence.  That  war  originated  in  a  dispute  with 
Pope  Sixtus  IV.,  which  in  reality  was  not  settled  as 
long  as  the  pontiff  lived.  Next  to  Alexander  vi.,  and 
John  xxin.  one  of  the  most  infamous  monsters  that 
ever  occupied  the  "  Chair  of  the  Fisherman,"  was 
Francesco  della  Rovere,  who,  under  the  title  Sixtus  iv., 
kept  Italy  in  a  ferment  during  the  wrhole  duration 
of  his  pontificate  (1471-1484).  Were  no  other  proof 
forthcoming  of  Lorenzo's  marvellous  diplomatic  genius 
than  this  one  fact,  that  he  checkmated  the  political 
schemes  of  Sixtus,  and  finally  so  neutralised  his 
influence  as  to  render  him  well-nigh  impotent  for  evil- 
doing,  such  an  achievement  was  sufficient  to  stamp 
him  one  of  the  greatest  masters  of  state-craft  Europe 
has  known.  In  any  estimate  of  his  ability  we 
1  Vide  Politiau's  Epigrams  ;  Fabronius  in  Vita  Lauren.,  i.  39. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         145 

must  take  into  account  the  unsatisfactory  character 
of  many  of  the  instruments  wherewith  he  had  to 
achieve  his  purposes,  and  also  the  fact  that  he  had 
neither  a  great  army  at  his  back  with  which  to 
enforce  the  fulfilment  of  treaty  obligations  —  for 
Florence  never  was  a  city  of  soldiers — nor  had  he 
the  prestige  of  an  official  position  to  lend  weight  to 
his  words.  To  all  intents  and  purposes  he  was  a 
private  citizen  of  the  Florentine  Republic.  Yet  such 
was  the  dynamic  power  of  the  man's  marvellous 
personality,  and  the  reputation  he  had  earned,  even 
in  his  early  years,  for  supreme  prescience  and  far- 
reaching  diplomatic  subtilty,  that  far  and  wide  he 
was  regarded  as  the  greatest  force  in  Italian  politics.1 
Sixtus  sallied  forth  to  crush ;  he  returned  to  the 
Vatican  a  crushed  and  a  discredited  man,  to  die  of 
sheer  chagrin  over  his  defeat  by  Lorenzo  in  his  designs 
upon  Ferrara.  Reduced  to  its  original  elements,  the 
aim  of  Sixtus  was  either  to  make  the  Papacy  here- 
ditary in  the  person  of  his  nephew  Pietro  Riario,  or, 
when  that  failed  through  the  death  of  the  young 
Carmelite  friar,  worn  out  by  the  excesses  of  his  vicious 
life,  to  carve  a  State  for  his  other  nephew,2  Girolamo 
Riario,  out  of  the  lands  of  the  Church.  While  pro- 
secuting this  nefarious  purpose,  he  secretly  purchased 
Imola  from  the  Duke  of  Milan,  a  town  which  Lorenzo 
had  been  anxious  to  secure  from  the  Duke,  as  thereby 
Florence,  in  the  words  of  Mr.  Armstrong,  would  have 

1  Von  Reumont,  Lorenzo  von  Medici,  ii.  p.  320. 

2  Giuliano  della  Rovere,  afterwards   Pope  Julius   n.,  was  a  third 
nephew,  but  meantime  the  pontiff  had  nothing  to  do  with  him.     The 
youth  was  considered  to  be  silly.     But  it  was  like  the  madness  feigned 
by  Ulysses. 

10 


146  THE  MEDICI  AND 

a  position  on  the  main  southern  road,  would  be  within 
easy  distance  of  the  Adriatic,  and  would  thus  be  able 
to  draw  much  closer  the  connection  with  her  traditional 
clients  the  Manfredi  of  Faenza.  Imola  could  readily 
be  brought  into  touch  with  the  Tuscan  Romagna,  and 
from  the  town  there  lay  a  practicable  pass  across  the 
Appenines. 

The  Medicean  bank  did  everything  to  prevent  the 
consummation  of  the  sale,  and  was  able  to  pinch  the 
Papacy  as  regards  the  sale  money.  Lorenzo,  however, 
found  it  impossible  to  prevent  Girolamo  Riario  from 
securing  Imola,  and  presently  the  fact  became  evident 
that  he  had  designs  on  Faenza  and  Forli  as  well. 
Then  followed  the  memorable  dispute  in  1472-1473, 
over  the  Bishopric  of  Pisa,  when  the  Pope's  nominee, 
Francesco  Salviati,  was  refused  possession  of  his  See, 
Pisa  being  one  of  the  Tuscan  towns  under  the  control 
of  Florence.  To  this  Sixtus  retaliated  by  seeking  the 
friendship  of  Ferrante  of  Naples,  a  move  Lorenzo 
anticipated  by  forming  the  league  between  Florence, 
Milan,  and  Venice.  This  league  thoroughly  alarmed 
both  the  Pope  and  Ferrante,  and  on  the  latter  visiting 
Rome  in  1475  a  Papal-Neapolitan  alliance  was  formed. 

Even  then,  hostilities  might  not  have  broken  out 
had  the  young  Duke  of  Milan  not  been  assassinated 
in  1476,  leaving  an  infant  heir.  This  entailed  a  long- 
minority,  with  all  its  dangers,  and  the  apprehensions 
regarding  these  were  not  fanciful,  inasmuch  as  Lodovico 
Sforza,  uncle  of  the  baby  duke,  usurped  the  position 
under  pretext  of  acting  as  regent.  These  crimes 
were  plainly  responsible  for  the  Pazzi  conspiracy  in 
1478  against  the  Medici  themselves,  a  conspiracy 
which  resulted  in  Giuliano,  the  younger  brother  of 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         147 

Lorenzo,  being  murdered  in  the  Cathedral,  during  mass, 
on  the  Sunday  before  Ascension,  while  Lorenzo  him- 
self was  slightly  wounded.  That  Sixtus  and  his 
nephew  were  accessories  before  the  fact  is  now 
regarded  as  unquestionable.1  The  vengeance  taken 
by  the  enraged  Florentines  on  the  conspirators,  their 
relatives,  friends,  and  property,  was  terrible;  the 
innocent,  alas !  being  sacrificed  indiscriminately  with 
the  guilty.  The  Archbishop  of  Pisa,  Francesco  Sal- 
viati,  had  entered  eagerly  into  the  scheme,  and  although 
his  sacred  office  prevented  him  from  actually  assisting 
in  the  deed,  he  was  present  in  the  Cathedral  until  the 
signal  was  given  for  the  perpetration  of  the  deed, 
when  he  left  the  building  to  secure  the  Palazzo  Pub- 
blico.  He  was  therefore  summarily  hanged  with  the 
others  from  the  windows  of  the  civic  buildings. 
Sixtus  made  the  execution,  or  the  "  murder "  as  he 
called  it,  of  Salviati,  his  pretext  for  calling  on  his 
allies  to  make  war  on  Florence.  When  he  saw,  how- 
ever, that  this  action  was  only  throwing  the  city 
more  completely  than  ever  into  the  arms  of  the 
Medici,  he  changed  his  tactics  and  said  he  had  no 
quarrel  with  "  his  well-beloved  children  of  Florence," 
but  only  with  "  that  son  of  iniquity  and  child  of 
perdition,  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,"  and  those  who  had 
aided  and  abetted  him,  among  whom  the  Humanists 
were  expressly  mentioned.  Against  Lorenzo  and  his 
asvsociates  a  brief  of  excommunication  was  launched, 
and  the  city  was  urged  to  regain  the  Papal  favour 
by  surrendering  the  offenders.2 

The  result  might  have  been  predicted.     The  "  brief  " 

1  Cf.  Muratori,  Ann.,  ix.  526;  Mach.,  Hist.,  l>k.  viii. 

2Raffaele  da  Volterra,  in  Comm.  Urban  Gioy.,  138;  Anunirato,  iii.  119. 


148  THE  MEDICI  AND 

only  tended  to  knit  the  bonds  of  association  closer 
between  Lorenzo  and  the  "  City  of  the  Flower,"  while 
the  Humanists  to  a  man  rallied  round  their  patron. 
Even  the  choleric  Filelfo,  now  a  very  old  man,  who 
had  been  on  anything  but  friendly  terms  with  the 
Medici,  addressed  two  bitter  satires  to  Sixtus,  in  which 
the  Pope  was  styled  the  real  aggressor,  while  the 
great  Humanist  offered  to  write  a  history  of  the 
whole  transaction,  that  posterity  might  know  the 
true  facts.  The  only  power  which  gave  its  adhesion 
to  Sixtus  was  Naples,  while  Venice,  Ferrara,  and  Milan 
declared  for  Florence. 

Thus  commenced  that  tedious  war  which  not  only 
ruined  so  many  Florentine  merchants  but  retarded 
the  cause  of  learning  so  materially.  When  the  people 
were  groaning  under  heavy  taxes,  when  every  coin 
which  Lorenzo  could  scrape  together,  had  to  be  poured 
out  to  pay  the  condottieri,  or  soldiers  of  fortune,  by 
whom  the  battles  of  Florence  were  fought,  there  was 
of  course  but  short  commons  for  the  Humanists  who 
had  made  Florence  their  home.  Many  of  those  adapted 
themselves  to  circumstances,  but  others,  to  whom 
money  was  their  god,  left  the  banks  of  the  Arno 
for  those  southern  cities  where  the  pinch  of  scarcity 
did  not  prevail. 

In  this  campaign  the  Florentines  gained  but  little 
prestige.  The  larger  share  of  the  cost  was  quietly 
suffered  by  their  allies  to  fall  on  the  city  of  bankers. 
The  Milanese  were  occupied  with  their  own  affairs,  owing 
to  the  coup  d'dtat  accomplished  by  Lodovico  Sforza. 
The  Duke  of  Ferrara  withdrew  owing  to  some  dis- 
agreement with  the  condottieri  engaged  by  Lorenzo. 
The  Venetians  only  despatched  a  small  contingent 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         149 

under  Carlo  Montone  and  Diefebo  d'Anguillari ; 
accordingly,  in  the  end,  the  whole  burden  of  the 
struggle  fell  on  Florence.  The  Magnifico's  position 
gradually  became  precarious,  inasmuch  as  many 
persons  declared  the  war  to  be  in  reality  a  personal 
quarrel  between  Pope  Sixtus  and  the  Medici.  Com- 
plaints began  to  be  heard  that  the  public  treasury  was 
exhausted  and  the  commerce  of  the  city  ruined,  while 
the  citizens  were  burdened  with  oppressive  taxes. 
Lorenzo  had  the  mortification  of  being  told  that 
sufficient  blood  had  been  shed,  and  that  it  would  be 
expedient  for  him  rather  to  devise  some  means  of 
effecting  a  peace,  than  of  making  further  preparations 
for  the  war.1 

In  these  circumstances,  and  confronted  by  one  of  the 
most  dangerous  crises  of  his  whole  life,  Lorenzo  rose  to 
the  occasion  and  effected  a  solution  of  the  difficulty  by 
daring  to  perform  what  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the 
bravest  acts  ever  achieved  by  a  diplomatist.  By  some 
statesmen  it  might  be  condemned  as  foolhardy,  by 
others  as  quixotic.  Its  very  foolhardiness  and  quixotry 
fascinated  the  man  it  was  intended  to  influence,  the 
bloodthirsty,  cruel,  and  pitiless  Ferrante  of  Naples, 
who  was  restrained  from  crime  by  the  fear  neither  of 
God  nor  man,  and  who  had  actually  slain  the  con- 
dottiere  Piccinino,  when  he  visited  him  under  a  safe- 
conduct  from  the  monarch's  best  ally.  But  the  Re- 
naissance annals  are  filled  with  the  records  of  men 
and  women  whose  natures  are  marvellous  studies  of 
contrasted  and  contradictory  traits  Such  was  the 
Neapolitan  tyrant.  While  a  monster  in  much,  he  had 
his  vulnerable  points.  He  was  ambitious  to  pose  as 
1  Cf.  Roscoe,  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  chap.  iv. 


150  THE  MEDICI  AND 

a  friend  of  the  "  New  Learning,"  and  he  knew  that 
Lorenzo  was  not  only  the  most  munificent  patron,  but 
also  one  of  the  most  illustrious  exponents  of  the  Re- 
naissance principles. 

Although  his  enemy,  Ferrante  received  Lorenzo  with 
every  demonstration  of  respect  and  satisfaction.  He 
lost  sight  of  the  hostile  diplomatist  in  the  great  Human- 
ist. Two  Neapolitan  galleys  were  sent  to  conduct  him 
to  Naples,  and  he  was  welcomed  on  landing  with  much 
pomp.  Never  did  Lorenzo's  supreme  diplomatic  genius, 
never  did  his  versatile  powers  as  a  statesman,  as  a 
scholar,  as  a  patron  of  letters,  and  as  a  brilliant  man  of 
the  world  blaze  forth  in  more  splendid  effulgence  than 
during  his  three  months'  stay  in  Naples.  Though 
opposed  by  all  the  papal  authority  and  resources ; 
though  Sixtus  by  turns  threatened,  cajoled,  entreated, 
promised,  in  order  to  prevent  Lorenzo  having  any 
success,  the  successor  of  St.  Peter  was  beaten  all  along 
the  line,  and  the  Magnifico  carried  away  with  him  a 
treaty  signed  and  sealed,  which  practically  meant  that 
henceforth  Naples  and  the  Papacy  would  be  in 
antagonistic  camps.1 

It  was  the  Renaissance  card  which  won  the  trick. 
With  startling  boldness,  yet  with  consummate  art, 
Lorenzo  played  the  game  of  flattering  Ferrante.  No 
ordinary  adulation,  however,  would  have  had  success 
with  the  Neapolitan  Phaleris.  He  was  too  strong- 
minded  a  man  for  anything  of  that  kind.  But  to  be 
hailed  by  the  great  Renaissance  patron  of  the  period, 
by  one  also  who  was  himself  one  of  the  leading  Human- 
ists, as  a  brother  Humanist  and  a  fellow-patron  of 
learning,  was  a  delicate  incense  to  his  vanity  which  he 
1  Armstrong,  Lorenzo,  p.  176  ;  Roscoe,  Lorenzo,  p.  166. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         151 

could  not  resist.  He  liked  to  be  consulted  on  matters 
of  literary  moment,  and  when  he  blundered,  Lorenzo 
was  too  shrewd  a  student  of  human  nature  to  correct 
him. 

Another  fact  in.  Lorenzo's  favour  was  that  he  had 
the  warm  support  not  only  of  the  beautiful  Ippolyta 
Maria,  daughter  of  Cosimo's  friend,  Francesco  Sforza 
of  Milan,  and  now  wife  of  Alfonso,  Duke  of  Calabria, 
King  Ferrante's  heir,  as  well  as  of  Don  Federigo, 
the  monarch's  younger  son,  who,  along  with  Ippolyta, 
was  a  friend  to  the  "New  Learning,"  but  he  also 
had  the  whole  body  of  the  Neapolitan  Humanists  on 
his  side,  scarce  one  of  whom  but  had  experienced  in 
some  form  or  another  the  Medicean  bounty.  Such 
powerful  advocacy  was  not  without  its  influence  in 
bringing  about  the  result :  while  Ferrante  more  and 

O          O  ' 

more  realised  that  if  the  Florentine  Medici  were 
crushed  he  would  have  no  ally  to  whom  to  look  for 
help,  when  the  inevitable  shuffle  of  the  political  cards 
took  place  on  the  death  of  Sixtus.1 

In  February  1480,  therefore,  Lorenzo  returned  in 
triumph  to  Florence,  to  be  received  with  rapture  by 
his  fellow-citizens.  Had  he  delayed  a  few  months 
longer,  his  visit  and  his  ad  misericordiam  appeals 
would  not  have  been  needed.  In  August  of  that  year 
Keduk  Achmed,  one  of  the  Turkish  Sultan's  (Moham- 
med n.)  ablest  generals,  besieged  and  took  the  city  of 
Otranto.2  In  face  of  the  common  danger  to  all  Italy, 
Sixtus  was  compelled  to  accept  the  treaty  made  by 
Ferrante  with  Lorenzo,  and  a  general  peace  ensued. 
The  decade  accordingly  closed  with  an  absolution  for 

1  Von  Reumont,  Lorenzo,  vol.  ii.  p.  330.  . 

2  In  the  extreme  south-east  of  Italy,  the  ancient  Hydrantum. 


152  THE  MEDICI  AND 

all  offences  granted  by  the  Pope  to  Florence,  conditional 
on  the  Tuscan  Republic  contributing  its  share  to  the 
expenses  of  the  military  preparations  to  resist  the 
invasion  of  the  Turk.1 

Notwithstanding  the  war  the  progress  of  the  Re- 
naissance during  the  first  decade  of  Lorenzo's  rule  was 
very  marked.  To  the  rapid  diffusion  of  printing  this 
was  largely  due.  Lorenzo  had  not  imbibed  the  pre- 
judices against  the  new  art  entertained  by  Cosimo  and 
Federigo  of  Montefeltro.  He  looked  at  the  practical 
not  the  sentimental  side  of  the  question  as  regards 
the  new  invention.  Having  seen  that  the  press  could 
throw  off,  in  a  few  days,  scores  of  copies  of  any  work, 
of  which  it  took  an  amanuensis  months  to  produce  one  ; 
also  that  the  scholars  of  all  Italy  could  be  furnished 
almost  immediately,  and  at  a  low  price,  with  the  texts 
of  any  MSS.  they  desired,  while  they  had  to  wait 
months  for  a  limited  number  of  copies  whose  cost  was 
well-nigh  prohibitive,  he  supported  the  new  invention 
from  the  outset.  Having  resolved  to  further  his 
father's  efforts  to  establish  printing  in  Florence,  he 
stimulated  the  local  goldsmith,  Bernardo  Cennini,  to 
turn  his  attention  to  type-casting  in  metal,  and  even 
agreed  to  pay  him  an  annual  grant  from  the  year  1471 
until  he  had  fairly  settled  himself  in  business.  Nor 
did  he  confine  his  favours  to  him.  John  of  Maintz 
and  Nicholas  of  Breslau,  who  arrived  in  Florence,  the 
former  in  1472  and  the  latter  in  1477,  also  participated 
in  his  open-hearted  liberality.  Printing  struck  its 
roots  deep  into  the  Tuscan  community  and  flourished 
excellently.  Though  the  Florentine  craft  never  attained 

1  Pii  II.  Commoitarii.  Cf.  also  Gregorovius,  bk.  xiii.  chap.  iii. ;  Sugen- 
heim,  Geschichte  der  Entsteliung  und  Ausbildung  des  Kirchenstaates,  p.  97. 


THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         153 

the  reputation  of  the  Venetian  Aldi  and  Asolani,  the 
Giunti  of  Rome,  the  Soncini  of  Fano,  the  Stephani  of 
Paris,  and  Froben  of  Basle,  it  had  the  name,  for  a  time 
at  least,  of  being  one  of  the  most  accurate  of  all  the 
presses. 

To  Lorenzo  it  owed  this  celebrity.  At  an  early  date 
he  perceived  that  the  new  art  would  be  of  little  value 
if  there  were  not  careful  press  readers.  He  was  there- 
fore amongst  the  first  to  induce  scholars  of  distinction 
to  engage  in  this  task.  For  example,  he  enlisted  the 
aid  of  Cristoforo  Landino,  who  in  his  Disputationes 
CamalduifieTises  had  really  inaugurated  the  science  of 
textual  criticism,  by  urging  that  a  careful  comparison 
of  the  various  codices  should  constitute  the  preliminary 
step  in  any  reproduction  of  the  classics.  Landino's 
work  on  Virgil  and  Horace  merits  the  warmest  praise. 
Lorenzo  also  impressed  Poliziano  into  the  work,  whose 
labours  in  marking  the  various  readings,  in  adding 
scholia  and  "notes"  illustrative  of  the  text  of 
Catullus,  Propertius,  Ovid,  etc.,  were  of  the  utmost 
value.  To  Lorenzo  and  to  his  younger  brother  Giuli- 
ano,  another  great  Humanist,  Giorgio  Merula  of  Milan, 
dedicated  his  Plautus,  published  in  Venice  in  1472, 
showing  at  how  early  an  age  the  Magnifico  had  taken 
his  place  among  the  recognised  patrons  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance. 

We  ought  not,  moreover,  to  omit  mention  of  another 

O  '  * 

achievement  of  Lorenzo,  though  performed  in  a  sphere 
of  effort  lying  outside  the  strict  limits  of  our  Renais- 
sance survey.  Seeing  it  was  the  "  Revival  of  Letters," 
however,  which  induced  the  revival  of  the  cultivation 
of  the  vernacular  Italian  literature,  surely  it  is  not  out 
of  place  to  refer  to  it  here  ?  Early  in  life  Lorenzo 


154  THE  MEDICI  AND 

became  imbued  with  the  conviction  that  his  native 
tongue  was  unsurpassed  as  a  medium  for  "the  ex- 
pression of  noble  thoughts  in  noble  numbers."  Not 
only  did  he  encourage  others  to  study  Dante,  Petrarch, 
and  Boccaccio,  but  by  following  out  his  own  precepts 
he  became  one  of  the  great  Italian  poets.  His  Selve 
d'Amore,  his  Corinto,  his  Ambra,  his  La  Nencia 
da  Barberino,  his  Laude,  his  Sonetti,  his  Cansoni, 
etc.,  are  all  poems  that  live  in  the  Italian  litera- 
ture of  to-day.  Not  as  a  man  ashamed  of  the 
vernacular,  and  forced  to  use  it  because  he  can  com- 
mand no  better,  does  Lorenzo  write.  "  He  is  sure  of 
the  justice  of  his  cause,  and  determined  by  precept 
and  example  and  by  the  prestige  of  his  princely  rank 
to  bring  the  literature  he  loves  into  repute  again." l 

But  of  these  poems  we  cannot  here  take  further  note. 
By  the  scholars  of  the  Renaissance  such  work  was 
looked  askance  at.  If  they  did  produce  any  of  these 
"  trifles,"  as  they  were  called,  they  almost  blushed  to 
own  them,  and  were  ashamed  to  communicate  them 
to  each  other.2  That  he  dared  to  be  natural  says  much 
for  Lorenzo,  and  it  was  largely  due  to  his  encourage- 
ment that  Cristoforo  Landino  undertook  his  great 
work  on  "  Dante,"  to  which  we  owe  so  much  to-day. 

In  conjunction  with  his  patronage  of  printing  there 
was  no  line  of  effort  in  which  Lorenzo  did  more  real 
service  than  in  collecting  HSS.  and  antiquities,  and  in 
making  them  practically  public  property.  On  this 
account  he  is  styled  by  Niccolo  Leonicino,  "  Lorenzo  de 
Medici,  the  great  patron  of  learning  in  this  age,  whose 
messengers  are  dispersed  through  every  part  of  the 

1  Symontls.  Renaissance,  vol.  iv.  p.  323. 

2  Eoscoe,  Lorenzo  de!  Medici,  p.  240. 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         155 

earth  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  books  on  every 
science,  and  who  has  spared  no  expense  in  procuring 
for  your  use  and  that  of  others  who  may  devote  them- 
selves to  similar  studies  the  materials  necessary  for 
your  purpose."  The  agents  he  employed  travelled 
through  Italy,  Greece,  Europe,  and  the  East, — Hiero- 
nymo  Doiiato,  Ermolao  Barbaro,  and  Paolo  Cortesi 
being  the  names  of  some  of  his  most  trusted  "com- 
missioners." But  the  coadjutor  whose  aid  he  prin- 
cipally relied  on,  to  whom  he  committed  the  care  and 
arrangement  of  his  vast  museum  and  great  library, 
was  Poliziano,  who  himself  made  frequent  excursions 
throughout  Europe,  Asia,  and  Northern  Africa  to  dis- 
cover and  purchase  such  remains  of  antiquity  as  suited 
the  purposes  of  his  patron.  Another  successful  agent, 
though  at  a  later  date,  was  Giovanni  Lascaris,  who 
twice  journeyed  into  the  East  in  search  of  MSS.  and 
curios.  In  the  second  of  these  he  brought  back  up- 
wards of  200  copies  of  valuable  codices  from  the 
monasteries  on  Mount  Athos. 

To  still  another  service  rendered  by  Lorenzo  to  the 
cause  of  the  Renaissance  attention  must  be  called — the 
founding  of  the  Florentine  Academy  for  the  study  of 
Greek.  This  institution,  distinct,  be  it  remembered, 
from  the  Uffi-ziali  dello  Studio,  or  High-School,  exer- 
cised a  marvellous  influence  on  the  progress  of  the 
"  New  Learning."  Accordingly,  as  Roscoe  says,  suc- 
ceeding scholars  have  been  profuse  in  their  acknow- 
ledgments to  Lorenzo,  who  first  formed  the  establish- 
ment from  which,  to  use  their  own  classical  figure,  as 
from  the  Trojan  horse,  so  many  illustrious  champions 
have  sprung,  and  by  means  of  which  the  knowledge  of 
the  Greek  tongue  was  extended  not  only  throughout 


156  THE   MEDICI   AND 

Italy  but  throughout  Europe  as  well,  from  all  the 
countries  of  which  numerous  pupils  flocked  to  Florence 
— pupils  who  afterwards  carried  the  learning  they  had 
received  to  their  native  lands.1 

Of  this  institution  the  first  public  professor  was 
Joannes  Argyropoulos,2  who,  having  enjoyed  the  pat- 
ronage of  Cosimo  and  Piero,  and  directed  the  education 
of  Lorenzo,  was  selected  by  the  latter  as  the  fittest 
person  to  be  the  earliest  occupant  of  the  chair.  Dur- 
ing his  tenure  of  it  he  sent  out  such  pupils  as 
Poliziano,  Donato  Acciaiuoli,  Janus  Pannonius,  and  the 
famous  German  Humanist,  Reuchlin.  Argyropoulos  did 
not  hold  the  appointment  long.  His  death  took  place 
at  Rome  in  1471,  and  he  was  succeeded  first  by  Theo- 
dore of  Gaza,  and  then  by  Chalcondylas.  Poliziano 
certainly  discharged  the  duties  of  the  office  frequently, 
but  at  first  only  as  locum  tenens.  He  was  then  almost 
incessantly  engaged  in  travelling  for  his  patron  in 
Greece  and  Asia  Minor,  and  was  too  valuable  a  coad- 
jutor to  be  tied  down  to  the  routine  of  teaching  until 
he  had  completed  his  work.  During  the  next  decade 
he  became  the  "  Professor,"  and  discharged  the  duties 
with  a  genius  and  an  adaptability  to  circumstances 
that  won  for  him  the  admiration  and  love  of  all  his 
students. 

This  decade  was  also  remarkable  for  the  commence- 
ment of  the  devotion  to  the  cultivation  of  literary 
style,  a  pursuit  yet  to  reach  its  culmination  in  Poliziano 
in  Florence,  and  in  Bembo  and  Sadoleto  in  Rome. 
Originality  gradually  gave  place  to  conventionality, 
until  men  actually  came  to  prefer  the  absurdities  of 

1  Roscoe,  Lorenzo,  p.  253. 

2  Acciaiuoli  ap  Hod  de  Greeds  lllustr.,  202  ;  Politian  in  JfUM&.,cap.  1 . 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         157 

Ciceronianism  and  a  cold  colourless  adherence  to  hard- 
and-fast  rules  of  composition,  to  a  work  throbbing  with 
the  pulsation  of  virile  life.  Humanism  was  beginning 
to  take  flight  from  Italy,  to  find  a  home  and  a  welcome 
beyond  the  Alps. 

SECTION  3. — Lorenzo's  Life  and  Labours  between 
1481-1492 

PorES — Sixtus  iv.,  1471 ;  Innocent  vin.,  1484 

The  final  decade  of  Lorenzo's  life  constituted  the 
midsummer  bloom  of  the  Tuscan  Renaissance,  the 
meridian  of  the  intellectual  and  artistic  supremacy  of 
Florence.1  In  Lorenzo  it  found  its  fullest  expression. 
He  was  typical  of  its  spiritual  as  well  as  of  its  moral 
meaning;  typical,  too,  of  that  mental  unrest  which 
sought  escape  from  the  pressing  problems  of  an  enig- 
matic Present,  by  reverting  to  the  study  of  a  classic 
Past  whose  ethical,  social,  and  political  difficulties 
were  rarely  of  a  complex  character,  but  concerned 
themselves  principally  with  what  may  be  termed  the 
elementary  verities  of  man's  relations  to  the  Deity 
and  to  his  fellows. 

Lorenzo's  amazing  versatility  has  been  pronounced 
a  fault  by  some  who  believed  they  detected  in  him 
the  potential  capacity  of  rivalling  Dante,  Petrarch, 
and  Ariosto  on  their  own  ground,  had  he  only  con- 
served his  energies.  That  is  a  foolish  supposition. 
Lorenzo's  many-sidedness  was  but  the  reflection  in 
himself,  as  the  most  accurate  mirror  of  the  time,  of  all 

1  Of.  Savonarola,  by  the  Rev.  G.  M'Hardy,  D.D.,  in  this  Series  ;  also 
Guicciardhii,  chap.  i. 


158  THE  MEDICI  AND 

that  wondrous  susceptibility  to  beauty,  that  eager 
craving  after  the  realisation  of  the  ™  KaXov — the  Good 
— so  characteristic  of  the  best  Hellenic  genius,  whether 
we  study  it  in  the  dramas  of  Sophocles,  or  the  Republic 
of  Plato,  or  in  the  statesmanship  of  Pericles.  If 
Lorenzo  had  resembled  his  grandfather  and  concen- 
trated his  energies  upon  finance  and  politics,  there 
might  have  been  a  line  of  reigning  Medicean  princes 
in  Florence  half  a  century  earlier  than  actually  was 
the  case,  but  Europe  would  have  been  distinctly  the 
loser  by  the  absence  of  the  greatest  personal  force 
making  for  culture  which  characterised  the  Renaissance. 

This  last  decade  of  Lorenzo's  life — from  his  thirty- 
first  to  his  forty-second  year — was  memorable  in  many 
respects.  In  the  year  1481  he  was  again  exposed  to 
the  danger  of  assassination.  Battista  Frescobaldi  and 
two  assistants  in  the  Church  of  the  Carmeli,  and  again 
on  Ascension  Day,  made  an  attempt  to  stab  him,  but 
were  frustrated  by  the  vigilance  of  Lorenzo's  friends. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  this  second  attempt  was  also 
instigated  by  Girolamo  Riario,  the  nephew  of  Sixtus 
IV.1  Thereafter  Lorenzo  never  moved  out  without  a 
strong  bodyguard  of  friends  and  adherents, — a  pre- 
caution rendered  necessary  by  the  repeated  plots  that 
were  being  hatched  against  him  by  his  enemies. 

No  sooner  had  the  presence  of  the  Turks  at  Otranto, 
in  the  extreme  south-east  of  Italy,  been  rendered  a 
thing  of  the  past  by  the  surrender  of  the  Moslem 
garrison  to  the  Duke  of  Calabria  in  September  1481, 
than  the  peninsula  was  again  ranged  in  opposing 
camps,  by  the  attempt  of  the  Venetians,  assisted  by 
Sixtus  and  his  nephew,  to  dispossess  Ercole  d'Este, 
1  Ammirato,  lib.  xxv. 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         159 

Duke  of  Ferrara,  of  his  dominions.  The  duke  had 
married  the  daughter  of  Ferdinand,  King  of  Naples,  an 
alliance  which,  by  strengthening  him,  gave  on  that 
account  great  offence  to  the  Venetians.  They  there- 
fore sought  to  provoke  him  by  insisting  on  their 
monopoly  of  the  manufacture  of  salt  in  North  Italy, 
and  by  building  a  fortress  on  a  part  of  the  Ferrarese 
territory,  which  they  pretended  was  within  the  limits 
of  their  own.  When  he  remonstrated,  they  declined 
to  remove  it.  In  vain  he  appealed  to  Sixtus.  The 
latter  was  one  of  the  wolves  waiting  to  devour  him. 
He  then  turned  to  Lorenzo.  To  the  inexpressible 
chagrin  of  Venice  and  of  Sixtus,  the  Magnifico 
promptly  espoused  his  cause,  formed  an  alliance  with 
Ferdinand  and  other  States,  and  before  the  Pope  and 
the  Venetians  were  aware  he  had  moved,  they  found 
themselves  confronted  by  Naples,  Florence,  Milan, 
Bologna,  Mantua,  and  Faenza.  The  allies  were  com- 
manded by  Federigo  of  Montefeltro,  Duke  of  Urbino, 
while  the  Venetian-Papal  troops  were  placed  under 
Ruberto  Malatesta  of  Rimini.  In  this  campaign,  how- 
ever, Lorenzo  was  really  the  master-spirit.  Although 
successes  were  won  on  both  sides,  a  more  than  usually 
tragic  complexion  was  given  to  the  war  by  the  death 
of  the  two  commanders  of  the  opposing  forces.  They 
had  been  friends  from  youth,  and  such  a  trifle  as  the 
fact  that  they  were  hired  to  fight  against  each 
other  never  disturbed  the  tenour  of  their  mutual 
regard.  Armstrong  says  no  more  than  the  truth  when 
he  remarks — 

"  It  was  a  pathetic  coincidence.     The  two  rival  generals  had 
bequeathed   to   each   other   the   care   of   their  children  and 


160  THE  MEDICI  AND 

estates,  a  characteristic  illustration  of  the  easy  good-fellowship 
in  this  game  of  Italian  war." l 

The  war  dragged  on  with  varying  results  until 
Lorenzo  played  his  reserve  card.  He  induced  the 
Slavic  Archbishop  of  Carniola,  who,  visiting  Rome  as 
the  Emperor  Frederick's  envoy,  had  been  shocked 
by  the  shameless  immorality  of  the  Pope's  life,  to 
begin  an  agitation  for  a  General  Council.  In  this  he 
was  supported  by  several  of  the  rulers  in  Northern 
Italy  and  Eastern  Europe.  The  move  was  so  far 
successful.  The  Pope  became  alarmed,  and  hurriedly 
broke  off  his  alliance  with  Venice,  on  the  plea  that  the 
prevention  of  fresh  schism  in  the  Church  must  take 
precedence  of  every  other  consideration.  The  real  fact 
of  the  matter  was,  he  dreaded  the  fate  of  Pope  John 
xxin.,  for  he  knew  the  actions  of  his  nephew  Girolamo 
Riario  would  not  stand  Conciliar  examination.  More- 
over, his  other  nephew  Giuliano  della  Rovere,  after- 
wards Pope  Julius  II.,  a  bitter  enemy  to  Girolamo,  and 
Lorenzo's  warm  friend,  had,  during  the  disgrace  of  his 
cousin,  gained  the  Pope's  ear  and  told  him  some  plain 
but  wholesome  truths  regarding  the  unpleasant  con- 
sequences of  a  permanent  rupture  with  Lorenzo.  All 
these  considerations  induced  Sixtus  to  yield  and  leave 
Venice  to  prosecute  the  war  alone.  This  it  did  against 
a  quadruple  alliance,  for  the  Pope,  when  the  haughty 
Republic  of  the  lagoons  refused  to  disgorge  its 
Ferrarese  prey  at  his  orders,  promptly  changed  sides, 
and  was  as  keen  against  the  aggressor  as  he  had  pre- 
viously been  favourable  to  it.  The  Venetians  sustained 
two  severe  defeats,  while  their  fleet  was  almost  shat- 

1  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  p.  189. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         161 

tered  by  a  storm.  The  pecuniary  strain  was  beyond 
their  resources  longer  to  maintain.  They  therefore 
resorted  to  the  customary  project  of  inducing  some 
other  power  to  intervene.  In  this  case  they  took  the 
step  of  inviting  the  Duke  of  Orleans  to  lay  claim  to 
the  dukedom  of  Milan,  and  the  Duke  of  Lorraine  to 
the  throne  of  Naples.  The  move  was  successful  as 
regards  Ludovico  of  Milan;  he  withdrew  from  the 
alliance,  and  much  against  the  wish  of  the  other  allies 
the  peace  of  Bagnolo  was  concluded  in  August  1484. 
To  Sixtus  the  news  came  as  the  knell  of  his  dearest 
hopes.  He  gave  way  to  one  wild  outburst  of  passion, 
in  which  he  cursed  all  who  had  been  engaged  in  mak- 
ing peace,  then  apoplexy  supervened,  and  within  a  few 
hours  he  was  a  corpse.  He  was  succeeded  by  Cardinal 
Cybo,  a  warm  friend  towards  the  Medici,  and  one  who 
had  such  a  profound  admiration  for  the  genius  of 
Lorenzo  in  state-craft,  that  he  seldom  took  any  step 
without  consulting  him,  though  unfortunately  he  did 
not  always  follow  the  Magnifico's  advice. 

If  no  one  else  reaped  honour  and  glory  from  this 
Ferrarese  war,  Lorenzo  undoubtedly  did  so.  By  both 
sides  the  fact  was  admitted  that  he  had  acted  through- 
out as  a  far-seeing,  sagacious  diplomatist,  who,  while 
giving  pre-eminence,  as  was  natural,  to  the  welfare  of 
his  own  State,  had  sought  to  conserve  the  cause  of 
letters,  even  amid  the  turmoil  incident  upon  the  collision 
of  political  interests.  He  had  proved  the  friend  even 
of  the  enemies  of  his  own  country,  when  once  they  had 
passed  from  the  scene  of  conflict,  as,  for  example,  when 
he  dared  Girolamo  Riario  to  raise  a  finger  in  the 
direction  of  dispossessing  the  son  of  the  Pope's  general 
Ruberto  Malatesta,  of  his  Rimini  estates.  He  was  the 
ii 


162  THE  MEDICI  AND 

friend  of  the  oppressed  everywhere,  and  in  more  cases 
than  one  his  powerful  protection  saved  the  children 
of  his  friends  from  being  robbed  by  powerful  rela- 
tives. This  connection  between  Florence,  Naples, 
Milan,  Rome,  and  Ferrara  tended  to  the  promotion  of 
intellectual  intercourse  between  them.  As  printing 
was  now  being  briskly  prosecuted  all  over  Northern 
and  Central  Italy,1  the  interchange  of  literature  went 
on  ceaselessly  amongst  them. 

This,  however,  was  Lorenzo's  last  great  war.  True, 
he  was  implicated  in  the  prolonged  quarrel  between 
the  Papacy  and  King  Ferrante  of  Naples,  yet  it  was 
more  as  a  mediator  between  the  two  antagonists,  than 

o  f 

as  the  ally  of  the  last-named  that  he  took  part  in  it ; 
although,  as  Armstrong  points  out,  he  paid  for  the 
services  of  Trivulsio  and  400  cross-bowmen,  that  by 
enabling  the  Neapolitans  to  check  San  Severino, 
the  leader  of  the  Papal- Venetian  troops,  he  might 
induce  Innocent  VIII.  to  lose  heart  and  retire  from 
the  struggle. 

Lorenzo,  during  the  last  six  years  of  his  life,  or,  to 
speak  more  definitely,  after  the  peace  of  Bagnolo,  had 
become  in  Italian,  as  he  was  rapidly  becoming  in 
European  politics,  the  master-spirit  that  inspired  the 
moves  on  the  diplomatic  chess-board.2  In  the  mind  of 
the  historical  student,  whose  attention  is  directed  to 
this  period,  admiration  and  wonder  go  hand  in  hand  as 
we  contemplate  the  marvellous  sagacity  and  prevision 

1  We  might  almost  say  all  over  Italy,  for  a  press  was  established  at 
Reggio  as  early  as  1470. 

2  Desjardins,  Negotiations  Diplomatiques  de  la  France  awe  Toscane, 
vol.  i.  pp.  170-176 ;  and  Kervyn  de  Lettenhove,  Lettres  et  Negotiations 
de  Philippe  de  Comines,  vol.  i.  pp.  187-198. 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         163 

of  the  man,  together  with  the  skill  wherewith  he  made 
Florence — the  weakest  from  a  military  point  of  view  of 
the  five  greater  Italian  powers — the  one  which  exercised 
the  most  preponderating  influence  upon  the  affairs  of 
the  peninsula.  His  supreme  genius  conceived  and 
consummated  the  great  scheme  for  ensuring  the  peace 
of  Italy  by  a  Triple  Alliance  of  the  three  larger  States 
— Florence,  Milan,  and  Naples — against  the  other  two, 
Venice  and  the  Papacy.  As  showing  how  entirely  it 
was  dependent  upon  him,  the  Alliance  was  operative 
only  so  long  as  he  was  alive  to  bind  the  antagonistic 
forces  of  Naples  and  Milan  together  by  the  link  of  his 
own  personal  influence.  He,  in  a  word,  was  the  subtle 
acid  holding  in  chemical  combination  many  mutually 
repellent  substances.  When  his  influence  was  with- 
drawn by  death  within  a  few  months  they  had  all 
fallen  apart,  the  Triple  Alliance  was  forgotten  and 
Italy  was  doomed.1  Even  by  those  with  whom  he  was 
nominally  at  war  he  was  resorted  to  for  advice.  He 
it  was  that  kept  Innocent  vni.  from  taking  up  a 
position  that  would  have  rendered  the  Papacy  ridic- 
ulous in  the  eyes  of  Europe,  when  he  sought  to 
threaten  Naples  with  consequences  he  was  powerless 
to  inflict. 

Many  writers  have  accused  Lorenzo  of  cowardice,  of 
pusillanimity,  of  want  of  political  resolution  on  account 
of  this  very  course  of  action,  namely,  that  he  assisted 
the  enemies  of  Florence  to  extricate  themselves  from 
their  dilemmas.  Such  criticism  fails  entirely  to  under- 
stand both  the  aim  and  the  scope  of  his  policy.  He 
desired  to  keep  Italy  for  the  Italians.  His  clear- 

1  Niccolo  Valori,    Vita  di  Lorenzo  ;  Von  Reurnont,  Lorenzo,  vol.  i. 
p.  433. 


1 64  THE  MEDICI  AND 

sighted  sagacity  saw  nothing  but  danger  in  the  plans 
of  Ludovico  of  Milan  to  invite  the  French  King  into 
Italy,  or  in  those  of  Venice  to  encourage  the  Duke  of 
Lorraine  to  press  his  claims  upon  Milan.  The  inter- 
vention of  either  France  or  Spain  in  Italy  was,  in 
his  idea,  fraught  only  with  dire  disaster.  Fain  would 
he  have  patched  up  the  quarrel  between  Naples  and 
the  Papacy  by  mutual  concessions,  because  he  foresaw 
what  would  happen  if  the  colossal  northern  powers 
had  their  cupidity  aroused  regarding  Italy,  and  learned 
how  defenceless  she  really  was.  Because  he  foresaw 
so  clearly  the  horrors  of  the  invasion  of  1494  and 
1527,  he  acted  as  he  did,  even  towards  those  who 
were  enemies  of  Florence.  His  alarm  appears  in  the 
letter,  dated  July  1489,  which  he  addressed  to  his 
ambassador  in  Rome — 

"  I  dislike  these  Ultramontanes  and  barbarians  beginning 
to  interfere  in  Italy.  We  are  so  disunited  and  so  deceitful 
that  I  believe  that  nothing  but  shame  and  loss  would  be  our 
lot ;  recent  experience  may  serve  to  foretell  the  future.5'' l 

How  true  a  prophet  he  was,  the  subsequent  course  of 
Italian  history  revealed ! 

Anxious  though  the  situation  was,  crucial  though 
many  of  the  problems  he  had  to  solve  undoubtedly 
were,  yet  the  statement  may  be  accepted  as  approxi- 
mately true,  that  the  last  three  or  four  years  of 
Lorenzo's  life  were  spent  amidst  profound  peace — at 
least  as  far  as  Florence  was  concerned.  Roscoe's 
picture  is  highly  coloured,  but  not  over-coloured — 

"At  this  period  the  city  of  Florence  was  at  its  highest 
degree  of  prosperity.  The  vigilance  of  Lorenzo  had  secured 

1  Armstrong's  Lorenzo,  p.  223. 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         165 

it  from  all  apprehensions  of  external  attack ;  and  his  acknow- 
ledged disinterestedness  and  moderation  had  almost  extin- 
guished that  spirit  of  dissension  for  which  it  had  been  so 
long  remarkable.  The  Florentines  gloried  in  their  illustrious 
citizen,  and  were  gratified  by  numbering  in  their  body  a  man 
who  wielded  in  his  hand  the  fate  of  nations  and  attracted 
the  respect  and  admiration  of  all  Europe ;  .  .  .  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice  engaged  his  constant  attention,  and  he 
carefully  avoided  giving  rise  to  an  idea  that  he  was  himself 
above  the  control  of  the  law."  l 

And  Guicciardini  adds — 

"This  season  of  tranquillity  was  prosperous  beyond  any 
that  Italy  had  experienced  during  the  long  course  of  a 
thousand  years.  .  .  .  Abounding  in  men  eminent  in  the 
administration  of  public  affairs,  skilled  in  every  honour- 
able science  and  every  useful  art,  it  stood  high  in  the 
estimation  of  foreign  nations.  Which  extraordinary  felicity, 
acquired  at  many  different  opportunities,  several  circumstances 
contributed  to  preserve ;  but  among  the  rest  no  small  share  of 
it  was  by  general  consent  ascribed  to  the  industry  and  the 
virtue  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  a  citizen  who  rose  so  far  above 
the  mediocrity  of  a  private  station  that  he  regulated  by  his 
counsels  the  affairs  of  Florence,  then  more  important  by  its 
situation,  by  the  genius  of  its  inhabitants,  and  the  prompti- 
tude of  its  resources,  than  by  the  extent  of  its  dominions ; 
and  who  having  obtained  the  implicit  confidence  of  the 
Eoman  pontiff,  Innocent  vnr.,  rendered  his  name  great  and 
his  authority  important  in  the  affairs  of  Italy."  2 

Though  he  had  never  allowed  the  demands  of 
civic  affairs  to  interfere  with  his  interest  in  the 

1  Itoscoe's  Life  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  p.  234. 

2  Guicciardini,  Istoria  Fiorentina,  p.  227. 


1 66  THE   MEDICI   AND 

progress  of  the  Renaissance,  war-time,  as  we  have 
said,  is  not  favourable  to  the  cultivation  of  letters. 
While  the  connection  between  the  States  during  the 
course  of  hostilities  undoubtedly  promoted  the  increase 
of  mutual  interest  in  each  other's  intellectual  develop- 
ment, the  fact  that  the  Magnifico  had  to  disburse 
enormous  sums  for  the  prosecution  of  the  campaigns 
necessarily  limited  his  ability  to  extend  the  same 
princely  patronage  to  the  cause  of  learning.  But  with 
the  conclusion  of  peace  he  resumed  the  original  scale 
of  his  benefactions,  and  the  last  four  years  of  his  life 
were  perhaps  the  most  fruitful  of  all  in  sterling  good 
achieved  in  the  fostering  of  the  Renaissance. 

He  encouraged  the  printers  to  double  their  output; 
he  munificently  assisted  such  undertakings  as  the  first 
edition  of  Homer,1  edited  by  the  famous  scholars 
Demetrius  Chalcondyles  and  Demetrius  Cretensis,  as 
well  as  other  editions  of  the  classics  prepared  by 
Poliziano,  Marullus,  and  others.  In  the  final  estimate 
of  his  influence  upon  his  age  in  the  next  section  we 
hope  to  show  that  his  aim  was  as  pure  as  the  prosecu- 
tion of  its  realisation  was  determined.  He  encouraged 
foreigners  to  come  to  Florence  to  study  Greek,  and 
when  their  funds  failed  them,  in  many  cases  he 
generously  entertained  them  at  his  own  expense. 
Grocyn  and  Linacre,  as  well  as  Reuchlin,  testify  to 
the  wise  generosity  of  the  great  Magnifico,  and  all 
three  declare  that  to  him,  more  than  to  any  other  man, 
the  Renaissance  owed  not  only  its  development,  but 
even  the  character  it  assumed  in  Italy  in  the  second 
last  decade  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

1  Published  at  Florence  in  1488,  and  dedicated  to  Lorenzo's  son 
Piero. 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         167 

At  his  villas  of  Careggi,  Caffagiuolo,  Poggio-a-Cajano, 
Agnana,  and  Volterra  he  regularly  entertained  his 
friends.  His  table  continued  all  his  life  to  be  an  open 
one.  While  there  were  certain  intimate  friends  whom 
he  expected  every  day,  others  had  the  day  of  the  week 
named  when  they  were  asked  to  repair  to  the  hospitable 
board,  while  a  third  class  were  invited  to  appear  when- 
ever they  felt  inclined.  No  one  with  any  pretensions 
to  scholarship  but  had  a  friend  in  Lorenzo  de'  Medici. 
"  I  feel  a  fraternal  regard  for  all  men  who  love  letters 
as  I  love  them  "  was  his  remark  to  Ficino. 

The  end  came  when  he  was  literally  in  his  prime. 
Only  forty-two  years  of  age — he  might  reasonably  have 
looked  forward  to  many  years  of  active  work  and  the 
enjoyment  of  his  honours !  But  Lorenzo,  although 
not  a  vicious  was  a  pleasure-loving  man,  and  he  had 
drained  the  cup  of  enjoyment  to  the  very  lees.  His 
constitution  was  undermined  by  worry  and  late  vigils, 
by  the  very  intensity  of  interest  wherewith  he  had 
devoted  himself  to  the  pleasures  of  the  moment. 
Accordingly,  late  in  1491  he  began  to  feel  the  gout, 
from  which  he  had  suffered  for  some  years,  becoming  so 
troublesome  that  he  was  unable  for  the  duties  devolving 
on  him.  He  had  lost  his  wife,  Clarice  Orsini,  in  July 
1487,  at  a  time  when  he  was  absent  at  the  sulphur- 
baths  of  Filetta,1  striving  to  obtain  relief  from  pain, 
therefore  his  last  years  were  lonely  indeed.  Life  had 
lost  its  relish  to  the  dying  Magnifico.  The  only  thing 
over  which  he  showed  a  flash  of  the  old  interest  was  in 
March  1492,  when  his  son  Giovanni  (afterwards  Leo  X.), 
on  being  made  a  cardinal  by  Innocent  VIIL,  was  in- 
vested with  the  insignia  in  the  Abbey  Church  of  Fiesole. 

1  Near  Siena. 


168  THE  MEDICI  AND 

Although  then  within  a  month  of  his  end,  although, 
moreover,  so  weak  that  he  was  unable  to  attend  the  In- 
vestiture Mass,  or  to  head  his  table  at  the  banquet  which 
followed,  he  caused  himself  to  be  carried  in  a  litter 
into  the  hall,  where  he  publicly  paid  reverence  to  his 
son  as  a  Prince  of  the  Church.  He  then  embraced  him 
as  a  father,  and  gave  him  his  paternal  blessing.  That 
done,  and  after  addressing  a  few  words  of  welcome  to 
his  guests  collectively,  he  was  slowly  borne  back  to  his 
chamber  to  die.  Never  more  was  he  seen  in  public. 

His  ruling  passion  was,  however,  strong  in  death. 
In  place  of  surrounding  himself  with  clergy,  his  last 
hours  were  spent  with  the  Humanists  and  scholars  he 
had  loved  so  well.  To  his  beautiful  villa  of  Careggi, 
and  to  that  room  facing  the  south  which  he  called  his 
own,  he  retired,  and  summoned  Ficino,  Poliziano,  and 
Pico  della  Mirandola  to  bear  him  company  until  he 
dipped  his  feet  in  the  River  of  Death.  They  discussed 
many  tilings,  but  principally  the  consolations  afforded 
by  philosophy.  Then  they  reverted  to  the  subject  of 
the  classics,  and  to  the  valuable  codices  which  Lascaris 
was  bringing  back  from  Greece.1 

But  hope  at  last  burned  low,  and  the  physicians  had 
to  confess  that  the  case  was  beyond  their  skill.  How 
rudimentary  as  regards  medical  science  that  skill  was, 
may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  the  staple  remedy 
prescribed  by  the  great  Milanese  doctor,  Lazaro  da 
Ficino,  who  had  been  called  in  to  consult  with  Lorenzo's 
own  medical  man,  Pier  Leoni  of  Spoleto,  was  a  potion 
compounded  of  crushed  pearls  and  jewels.  As  might 
have  been  expected,  such  a  treatment  accelerated  rather 
than  retarded  the  disease. 

1  Fabronius  in  Vita  Laur.,  i.  196. 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         169 

The  last  hours  of  Lorenzo,  and  particularly  his 
historic  interview  with  Savonarola,  have  often  been 
described,  and  are  to  this  day  the  subject  of  debate. 
There  are  two  sides  to  every  story,  and  this  one  of  the 
last  visit  of  the  haughty  Prior  of  San  Marco's  to  the 
dying  Magnifico  is  no  exception.  Poliziano  relates  the 
incident  in  one  form,  the  followers  of  Savonarola  in 
another;  but  neither  report  is  absolutely  authentic. 
Suffice  it  for  us  that  Benedetto,  writing  a  week  after 
the  Magnifico's  death,  says  of  the  matter :  "  Our  dear 
friend  and  master  died  so  nobly,  with  all  the  patience, 
the  reverence,  the  recognition  of  God  which  the  best 
of  holy  men  and  a  soul  divine  could  show,  with  words 
upon  his  lips  so  kind  that  he  seemed  a  new  St.  Jerome." 
Perhaps  the  most  reasonable  attitude  to  assume  to- 
wards the  problem,  is  that  Lorenzo  died  as  he  lived, 
feeling  that  strange  restless  curiosity  as  to  what  was 
summed  up  in  the  idea  of  a  "future  life,"  which  he 
had  manifested  all  his  days :  "  If  I  believe  aught 
implicitly,"  he  is  reported  to  have  said  in  earlier 
years  to  Alberti,  "  I  believe  in  Plato's  doctrine  of  im- 
mortality in  the  Phcedo,  for  religion  is  too  much  a 
matter  of  temperament,  for  us  to  lay  down  hard-and- 
fast  rules  about  it."  Lorenzo  outwardly  conformed  in 
his  dying  hours  to  the  rites  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
He  received  the  viaticum  kneeling,  he  repeated  the 
responses  in  an  earnest  and  fervent  tone,  and  then 
when  he  felt  that  the  grains  in  the  hour-glass  of  life 
were  running  out  he  pressed  a  crucifix  to  his  lips, 
and  so  passed  within  the  veil.1  As  a  Humanist  he 
had  been  reared,  as  a  Humanist  he  had  lived  and 
laboured,  as  a  Humanist  he  died,  maintaining  to  the 
1  April  8,  1492. 


1 70  THE  MEDICI   AND 

very  last  his  interest  in  those  studies  which  it  had 
been  his  life's  passion  to  pursue. 

The  sun  of  the  Florentine  Renaissance  had  set  for 
ever ! 


SECTION  4. — Estimate  of  Lorenzo's  influence 
on  the  Renaissance 

POPES — Paul  II.,  1464  ;  Sixtus  iv.,  1471  ;  Innocent  vni.,  1484 

To  estimate  adequately  the  value  of  all  Lorenzo 
achieved  on  behalf  of  the  Renaissance  would  require 
a  volume,  not  a  mere  section  in  a  chapter.  There  is 
space  for  little  more  than  a  cursory  resume  of  the 
chief  results  of  his  versatile  activity. 

Lorenzo,  we  would  again  seek  to  remind  the  reader, 
was  at  one  and  the  same  time  the  production  and 
the  epitome  of  his  age.  To  a  far  greater  extent  he 
was  moulded  by  the  epoch  which  produced  him  than 
his  grandfather  Cosimo  by  his.  The  evolution  of 
culture  had  refined  the  somewhat  coarse  intellectual 
fibre  of  Cosimo  into  the  subtly  sensitive,  artistic  tem- 
perament of  Lorenzo,  whose  sympathetic  affinity  with 
all  forms  of  exoteric  or  material  beauty  constituted  so 
marked  a  trait  in  his  nature.1 

Strange  though  the  statement  may  appear,  it  was  the 
latter  who  possessed  the  more  grossly  material  mind  of 
the  two.  Cosimo  in  his  last  years  sought  surcease 
from  the  crushing  Weltschmerz  which  seemed  to  affect 
all  the  great  Humanists  of  the  Renaissance  era,  by 
turning  to  the  Platonic  ethics,  and  along  with  Marsiglio 
Ficino,  working  out  a  system  of  philosophico-religious 
1  EpistoloE  Angdi  Politiani,  lib.  ii. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         171 

faith  and  practice  which,  though  it  differed  not  a  little 
from  that  inculcated  by  Mother  Church,  was  never- 
theless based  upon  it.  Lorenzo,  on  the  other  hand, 
endeavoured  to  find  in  the  delights  of  poetry,  archi- 
tecture, painting  and  sculpture,  in  the  works  of  the 
great  masters  of  his  own  and  preceding  epochs,  and 
finally  in  the  exquisite  scenery  around  his  various 
villas,  distraction  from  the  haunting  sense  of  the 
utter  worthlessness  of  life.  In  a  word,  it  was  Cosimo 
who  was  the  Idealist  and  Lorenzo  who  was  the 
Realist. 

Although  Lorenzo,  at  death,  turned  with  almost 
despairing  eagerness  to  the  consolations  of  the  Church 
to  relieve  his  overpowering  depression,  he  did  so  not 
from  any  spiritual  craving  within  him  for  fellowship 
with  the  Unseen,  but  simply,  as  he  said,  because  "  death 
induced  such  a  superstitious  feeling  of  loneliness  that 
he  was  glad  to  do  anything  to  banish  it."  This  frame 
of  mind  was  akin  to  what  many  of  his  fellow-Humanists 
experienced  in  their  last  hours.  They  had  sacrificed 
their  Christian  faith  to  the  pagan  idea  of  absolute 
individual  liberty,  and  they  had  to  pay  the  price ! 

The  best  Hellenic  thought  was  non-religious,  or,  in 
other  words,  was  divorced  from  the  outward  and 
orthodox  spiritual  life  of  the  nation.  There  was  in 
Greece  no  rigid  ceremonial  law  as  to  sacrifices  and 
observances.  Every  district,  nay,  almost  every  town, 
had  its  tutelary  deity  and  its  special  mode  of  worship. 
The  religion  of  Greece,  even  in  the  early  days  of  the 
historic  epoch,  was  both  doctrinally  and  ceremonially 
in  a  state  of  chaos.1  The  greatest  intellects  among  the 

1  Cf.  Burckhardt's  Civilization  of  the  Renaissance  in  Itafy,  p.  230  ; 
Voigt,  Wicderbclcbung,  pp.  414-427. 


1/2  THE  MEDICI   AND 

sons  of  Hellas  were  in  antagonism  to  the  recognised 
faith.  ^Eschylus  and  Euripides,  among  its  tragic 
writers,  openly  scoffed  at  the  anomalies  of  the  poly- 
theistic worship.  Socrates  laid  down  his  life  rather 
than  appear  to  connive  at  this  glaring  divorce  between 
precept  and  practice,  and  is  represented  by  Plato  as 
going  to  his  death  with  the  words  on  his  lips :  "  And 
now  it  is  high  time  we  separate ;  I  go  to  die,  you  to 
live:  but  which  of  us  is  going  the  better  way  God 
only  knows."1  Xenophanes  of  Colophon,  also,  after 
stigmatising  the  theology  of  polytheism  as  exhibiting 
a  moral  depravity  on  the  part  of  the  so-called  gods, 
of  which  the  beasts  would  be  ashamed,  proceeded  to 
elevate  the  TO  avtipov — or  the  "  Physical  Infinite  " — into 
a  monotheistic  concept  to  serve  as  God;  for  he  says, 
"  There  is  one  God,  most  high  over  men  and  gods ; 
all  of  Him  hears,  sees,  thinks.  He  has  no  parts ;  He 
is  not  manlike  either  in  body  or  mind." 2 

In  the  "  Revival  of  Letters "  the  same  standpoint 
towards  religion  was  assumed  by  the  literary  class  as 
distinct  from  the  great  mass  of  the  people,  although 
the  central  principle  of  the  thought  and  life  of  the 
Western  World  had  changed  in  the  fifteenth  century 
A.D.  from  what  it  was  in  the  fifth  century  B.C.  Poly- 
theism, with  its  purblind  guesses  at  truth,  had  given 
place  to  Christianity,  with  its  formulation  of  the 
grandest  system  of  morality  the  world  has  seen.  Yet, 
owing  to  the  part  the  Roman  Church  had  played  in 
the  days  of  the  two  Gregories,  VII.  and  IX.,  and  of 
Boniface  vin.,  in  laying  stress  on  what  may  be  styled 

1  Close  of  the  Apologia,  which  Schleiermacher,  Grote,  and  Thirlwall 
regard  as,  in  the  main,  the  defence  actually  delivered  Ly  Socrates. 

2  Fragments  of  Xeuophanes*  poem  on  "Nature." 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         173 

the  mere  "  accidents  "  of  ethical  truth,  and  overlooking 
its  essentials,  the  Renaissance  leaders  had  preferred 
the  pagan  morality,  with  its  simple  and  direct  issues, 
to  the  Christian  system  of  morals,  inextricably  inter- 
woven as  it  appeared  to  be  with  the  casuistical  dogmas 
and  doctrines  of  that  ecclesiastical  society  which,  to 
many  Humanists,  seemed  tottering  to  its  fall.  The 
Renaissance  therefore,  as  an  inspiring  influence,  was 
distinctly  non-Christian;  while  in  some  cases,  as,  for 
example,  in  those  of  Carlo  Marsuppini,  Filelfo,  and 
Laurentius  Valla,1  it  was  even  anti-Christian.  Although 
Lorenzo  had  from  early  infancy  been  brought  under 
the  influence  of  a  profoundly  spiritual  training  by  his 
mother,  Lucrezia  Tornabuoni,  the  form  of  faith  and 
practice  adopted  even  by  her,  and  by  her  communi- 
cated to  him,  was  more  distinctively  Neo-Platonic  than 
Christian,  inasmuch  as  she  had,  metaphorically  speak- 
ing, sat  at  the  feet  of  Ficino  when  he  was  unfolding 
his  ideas  on  Plato  to  her  father-in-law  Cosimo. 

Lorenzo  de'  Medici  accordingly  united  in  his  own 
nature  both  the  "semi-Christian,"  or  Neo-Platonic, 
and  the  pagan  elements  present  in  the  Renaissance. 
There  is,  however,  no  evidence  extant  that  he  ever 
assumed  a  directly  antagonistic  attitude  to  Christianity. 
Many  critics  have  asked  with  a  scarcely  veiled  sneer, 
how  the  same  man  could  write  his  nobly  spiritual 
Laude,  or  hymns  in  the  vernacular,  or  his  sacred  play 
of  S.  Giovanni  e  Paolo,  and  those  grossly  sensual 
and  immoral  Ballate  and  carnival  songs,  which,  with 
all  their  exquisite  beauty  of  form  and  rhythm,  raise  a 
feeling  of  disgust  in  any  pure  mind.  Yet,  as  Symonds 
aptly  puts  it,  the  men  of  the  Renaissance  were  so  con- 

1  Who  proved  the  "Donation "  of  Constantino  a  forgery. 


174  THE  MEDICI  AND 

stituted  that  to  turn  from  vice  and  cruelty  and  crime, 
from  the  deliberate  corruption  and  enslavement  of  a 
people  by  licentious  pleasures  and  the  persecution  of 
an  enemy  in  secret,  with  a  fervid  and  impassioned 
movement  of  the  soul  to  God,  was  nowise  impossible, 
and  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  was  an  example  in  point. 

The  fact  that  Lorenzo  continued  to  prefer — notwith- 
standing all  ecclesiastical  persuasions  to  the  contrary — 
the  morality  of  Plato  to  that  hybrid  form  of  Scholastico- 
Aristotelian  ethics  taught  by  the  Franciscan  and 
Dominican  moralists  of  the  Church,  Roger  Bacon, 
Duns  Scotus,  William  of  Ockham,  Albertus  Magnus, 
and  Thomas  Aquinas,  showed  beyond  question  that 
his  sympathies  were  rather  with  the  classic  than  the 
Christian  type  of  virtue.  His  early  training  and  his 
intercourse  in  after  years  with  Ficino,  led  him  to 
repudiate  more  and  more  the  Catholic  ethics,  and  to 
substitute  for  them  a  system,  based  at  least  on  that 
of  the  great  Greek  Idealist,  but  which  differed  from 
Ficino's  lofty  interpretation  thereof,  in  inclining  more 
to  what  was  sensuously  beautiful  than  to  what  was 
either  intellectually  great  or  morally  grand. 

True,  when  dying,  he  summoned  the  clergy,  who 
were  in  the  habit  of  condemning  Plato  as  the  arch- 
enemy of  the  Church.  But  that  was  when  he  was 
physically  and  mentally  enfeebled,  and  when  the 
subtle  superstitious  trait  in  his  nature  temporarily 
overpowered  his  better  judgment,  by  suggesting  all 
kinds  of  spiritual  dangers  as  likely  to  confront  him 
in  the  Hereafter,  should  he  die  without  the  rites  of  the 
Church.1 

1  Fabronius,  Vita  Laur.,  vol.  i.  p.  215  ;  also  cf.  MS.  diary  of  an 
anonymous  Florentine  author  preserved  in  the  llagliabechi  Library. 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         175 

Lorenzo's  character  must  be  viewed  under  three 
distinct  aspects — as  a  statesman,  as  a  scholar,  and  as 
a  man — if  we  are  to  obtain  any  reliable  key  to  the 
nature  of  this  marvellously  many-sided  individual. 
His  eclecticism  showed  itself  in  all  he  did.  As  a 
statesman  he  belonged  to  no  distinctive  school  of  politics. 
A  thoroughgoing  Opportunist,  he  shaped  his  policy  by 
the  events  of  the  moment.  In  scholarship  he  attached 
himself  to  none  of  the  cliques  and  coteries  of  the  age. 
With  all  Humanists  he  was  on  terms  of  friendship,  but 
he  championed  none  of  them  in  their  wars  of  words. 
Not  even  his  bosom  friend  Poliziano  when  he  was 
defending  Florentine  scholarship  against  the  insinua- 
tions of  Merula  of  Milan,  or  disputing  over  Greek 
epigrams  with  Marullus,  his  successful  rival  in  the 
affections  of  the  lovely  and  learned  Alessandra  della 
Scala,  could  reckon  on  him  as  an  ally.  In  a  word,  all 
departments  of  letters  were  laid  under  levy  to  contri- 
bute to  the  "  tale  "  of  his  polymathic  accomplishments, 
but  he  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  none. 

Lorenzo  cannot  be  regarded  as  possessing  "  genius " 
in  the  highest  sense  of  the  term.  Into  a  loose  use  of 
the  word  we  have  unfortunately  fallen  at  the  present 
day,  and  we  speak  of  the  "genius"  of  men  who  have 
not  a  spark  of  the  divine  afflatus  in  them.  Properly 
speaking,  genius  should  only  be  applied  to  those  who  in 
their  nature  blend  extreme  susceptibility  to  all  forms  of 
beauty,  with  a  surpassing  imaginative  insight  into  that 
subtler  sense  under  which  the  World  and  material 
things,  Man  and  his  motives,  the  Unseen  Universe  and 
our  relations  to  it,  present  themselves  to  the  soul 
capable  of  understanding  them !  What  Wordsworth 
says  about  nature's  sublime  spiritual  teaching  to 


176  THE  MEDICI  AND 

the   "  Seeing  Soul "  exactly  expresses  the   distinction 
here.     To  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  men — 

"  A  primrose  by  the  river's  brim 
A  yellow  primrose  is  to  them, 
And  it  is  nothing  more."  x 

To  the  thousandth  it  is  a  verse  from  the  great  Book 
of  Nature,  giving  new  views  of  life  and  its  meaning, 
affording  a  key  to  Eternity  and  its  ever-impending 
mystery,  and  which  in  a  word — 

"  Finds  tongues  in  trees,  books  in  the  running  brooks, 
Sermons  in  stones,  and  good  in  everything." 

Lorenzo  certainly  had  this  gift,  but  not  in  supreme 
measure.  The  philosophic  distinction  between  faculty 
and  capacity  would  serve  to  throw  light  upon  the  radical 
distinction  between  him  and  Poliziano.  The  latter  was 
a  man  of  soaring  genius  who,  had  he  lived  during  any 
other  epoch  than  that  of  the  Renaissance,  would  not  have 
been  tempted  to  stray  into  the  paths  of  dry  critical 
scholarship  and  to  fritter  away  his  superb  powers  on 
such  tasks  as  Scholia  in  Platonem,  or  Nerodiani  de 
Romanorum  Imperatorum  vita  ac  rebus  gestis  Libri 
VIII.,  Angela  Politiano  interpreti.2  If  we  can  picture 
the  late  Lord  Tennyson  sitting  down  to  annotate  and 
comment  upon  the  text  of  the  writers  of  the  classic  era, 
while  all  the  time  the  soul  of  such  great  imaginings  as 
Maud,  In  Memoriam,  or  The  Idylls  of  the  King,  fretted 
itself  unavailingly  against  the  cage  bars  of  an  uncon- 
genial epoch,  we  shall  then  be  able  to  realise  somewhat 

1  Peter  Sell,  part  i.  v.  12,  slightly  altered. 

2  Cf.  Ruskin,  Stones  of  Venice,  vol.  iii.  p.  149,  sec.  60,  note ;  Pater, 
Renaissance,  pp.  58-69. 


THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         177 

of  what  the  world  lias  lost  by  the  diverted  intellectual 
development  of  Poliziano.  What  he  accomplished  in 
Latin  verse — verse  only  inferior  to  the  best  of  Virgil 
and  of  Horace;  what  he  has  accomplished  in  Italian 
— La  Giostra,  La  Favola  di  Orfeo,  the  Ballate,  the 
Cansone,  the  Rispetti,  and  others — only  show  us  how 
much  more  he  might  have  done.  Symonds  does  not 
exaggerate  his  genius  when  he  says  of  him — 

"  He  was  the  greatest  student  and  the  greatest  poet  in 
Greek  and  Latin  that  Italy  has  produced.  ...  In  the  history 
of  the  vulgar  literature  he  fills  a  place  midway  between 
Petrarch  and  Ariosto ;  and  had  the  moral  fibre  of  Poliziano, 
his  intellectual  tension  and  spiritual  aim,  been  at  all  com- 
mensurate with  his  twofold  ability,  the  Italians  might  have 
shown  in  him  a  fourth  singer  equal  in  magnitude  to  their 
greatest."  x 

Lorenzo  was  infinitely  more  versatile  than  Poliziano, 
but  he  lacked  his  depth  of  insight  into  the  soul  of 
things.  On  the  other  hand,  Poliziano,  in  the  exuberance 
of  his  genius,  frequently  ran  into  extravagances  of 
thought  and  diction  which  Lorenzo  with  his  calm 
common  sense  would  have  avoided.  While  the  point 
may  be  debated,  whether  Lorenzo's  influence  as  a  whole 
was  beneficial  on  the  development  of  Poliziano's  genius, 
one  thing  may  be  granted,  namely,  that  his  example  in 
the  cultivation  of  a  severe  chasteness  of  style  was 
exceedingly  salutary  to  Poliziano.  Nor  was  the  latter 
slow  to  acknowledge  it. 

The  debt  of  gratitude  which  the  Renaissance  owed  to 
Lorenzo,  particularly  during  the  last  decade  of  his  life, 
may  be  briefly  summarised  under  the  following  heads : — 

1  Renaissance,  vol.  iv.  p.  348. 
12 


i;8  THE  MEDICI  AND 

1.  Having  arrived  at  the  conviction  that  if  the  "  New 
Learning "  was  to  realise  the  full  extent  of  its  mission 
the  fruits  of  culture  must  be  more  diffused  among  all 

O 

classes  in  the  community,  and  especially  among  the 
young,  he  threw  himself  with  his  wonted  energy  into 
the  work  of  founding  public  seminaries  for  the  study 
of  the  ancient  languages  in  places  where  none  such  had 
existed  before.  In  towns  of  Tuscany  where  schools 
had  been  already  established,  he  reorganised  the 
course  of  study  so  as  to  bring  it  into  harmony  with 
the  trend  of  Renaissance  ideas.  The  institution  of  the 
Academy  of  Pisa  was  a  case  in  point.  He  personally 
took  a  deep  interest  in  the  matter,  liberally  endowed 
the  chairs,  and  was  instrumental  in  securing  scholars  of 
outstanding  merit  to  occupy  them.1  Such  men  as  Bar- 
tolommeo  Mariano  Soccini,  Baldo  Bartolini,  Lancelotto 
Tristano,  and  his  brother  Filippo,  Pier  Filippo  Corneo, 
Felice  Sandeo,  and  Franceso  Accolti,  in  civil  and  canon 
law ;  in  belles  lettres,  Lorenzo  Lippi  and  Bartolommeo  da 
Prato ;  in  divinity,  Domenico  di  Flandria  and  Bernardino 
Cherichini ;  in  philosophy,  Nicolo  Tignosi,  and  the  great 
Tomaso  Ruciani  in  medicine,  Albertino  de'  Chizzoli, 
Alessandro  Sermoneta,  Giovanni  d'Aquila,  and  Pier 
Leoni — ah1  scholars  of  high  eminence — were  chosen 
by  him  and  his  co-trustees. 

This  was  only  one  instance  out  of  many  in  which 
Lorenzo,  finding  that  the  old  studii  piibblicci 2  had 
failed  to  achieve  the  purpose  for  which  they  were 
founded,  reorganised  them,  and  either  transplanted 

1  Fabronius,  in  Vita  Laur.,  p.  50.     The  Pisan  Academy  had  been  a 
very  ancient  foundation,  but  had  fallen  into  disrepute  and  had  been 
closed  for  many  years  previous  to  its  reopening  by  Lorenzo. 

2  High-schools  ;  see  ante,  p.  45. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         179 

them  to  some  more  suitable  locality  or  left  them  in 
their  ancient  position  but  under  an  altered  regime. 
Some  of  these  schools  are  in  existence  to-day.  That 
their  influence  was  great  is  proved  by  the  prevalence 
of  culture  in  Italy  until  it  was  crushed  out  by  the 
invading  Spaniards  in  1527.  The  remark  made  by 
Vida1  is  no  more  than  the  truth — "the  youth  mid- 
way in  his  teens  now  knows  more  than  did  the 
sage  of  a  century  ago."  The  fact  is,  sufficient  stress 
has  not  been  laid  on  this  idea  of  Lorenzo's,  that 
in  the  diffusion  of  culture  we  must  begin  with  the 
young,  whose  minds  are  at  the  receptive  stage  when 
learning  is  easy.  Lorenzo's  "seminaries,"  which  in- 
cluded in  their  scope  the  idea  both  of  a  high- 
school  and  of  a  university,  and  in  connection  with 
which  one  system  of  training  would  prevail  from 
infancy  to  early  manhood,  contain  much  which  Pesta- 
lozzi  was  afterwards  to  unfold  in  the  early  years  of 
the  nineteenth  century  as  his  own.2  In  the  working 
out  of  his  plans,  however,  Lorenzo  had  the  advantage 
of  the  assistance  of  both  Ficino  and  Landino,  two  of 
the  greatest  educationists  of  his  epoch. 

2.  Further,  the  Renaissance  owed  a  deep  debt  of 
gratitude  to  Lorenzo,  inasmuch  as  he  raised  the 
standard  of  scholarship  by  advocating  "specialism" 
in  study.  One  of  the  first  convictions  borne  home  to 
him  on  reaching  manhood,  was  that  the  days  of  the 
"polymath,"  or  of  the  scholar  who  professed  to  have 

1  Poemata  Selecta. 

2  Pestalozzi's  book,  How   Gertrude.  Educates  her  Children,  contains 
many   ideas  which   were    originally  mooted    by  Lorenzo   de'   Medici. 
Pestalozzi  failed  in  reducing  his  ideas   to  practice,  as  his  schools  at 
Berthoud  and  Yverdon  proved  ;  while  Lorenzo  carried  his   conception 
of  what  teaching  should  be  into  actual  experience  in  numerous  instances. 


1 8o  THE  MEDICI   AND 

mastered  the  entire  circle  of  learning,  were  over. 
Filelfo's  crudities  were  laughed  at  by  men  who,  if  they 
had  not  his  encyclopaedic  knowledge  of  the  classics, 
were  more  accurate  as  regards  that  knowledge  and  more 
discriminating  in  their  style.  Lorenzo  was  an  advocate 
of  absolute  accuracy  in  scholarship,  and  that  of  course 
could  only  be  obtained  by  limiting  the  area  of  the 
literary  field  which  the  scholar  sought  to  make  his 
own.  Here  again  he  was  strengthened  by  the  support 
of  the  later  Humanists  of  the  Medicean  circle,  Hermolao 
Barbaro,  Bartolommeo  Scala,  Michael  Marullus,  and  others. 
That  craze  for  "purism"  was  even  then  beginning,  which 
was  to  culminate  in  the  "  Ciceronianism "  absurdities 
of  Bembo  and  Sadoleto.  So  far  Lorenzo  encouraged  it. 

o  * 

and  practised  the  principles  he  enunciated,  but  he  had 
no  sympathy  with  the  ultra-fastidiousness  of  Bembo, 
who  wrote  to  his  friend  Sadoleto  begging  him  to  hurry 
over  his  work  on  St.  Paul's  Epistles  and  turn  to 
Hortensius ;  for,  says  he :  "  The  barbaric  style  of  Paul 
will  ruin  your  taste.  Stop  this  child's  play,  which  is 
unworthy  of  an  earnest  man." 1 

3.  Further,  to  Lorenzo,  the  Renaissance  owed  a 
deep  debt  of  gratitude  in  consequence  of  the  rapidity 
wherewith  he  realised  how  great  a  boon  the  invention 
of  printing  was  about  to  confer  on  the  "  New  Learning." 
Even  before  the  death  of  his  father  Piero,  Lorenzo 
was  cognisant  of  the  fact  that  the  new  art  would 
revolutionise  the  progress  of  literature  throughout 
Europe,  and  he,  along  with  his  mother  Lucrezia,  induced 
his  father  to  invite  Cennini  to  begin  his  task,  first  of 
printing,  then  of  casting  steel  types.  Piero  died  before 
Cennini  had  gone  any  distance  towards  realising  his 
1  The  Aye  of  the  Eenais?ancf,  by  Paul  Van  Dyke,  p.  324. 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         181 

purpose,  so  that  to  Lorenzo,  and  to  him  alone,  belongs 
the  credit  of  encouraging  Florentine  printing.1  But 
Lorenzo's  chief  benefit  consisted  in  the  consistent 
munificence  wherewith  he  fostered  the  infant  art.  In 
his  famous  letter  to  his  friend  Federigo  of  Naples  in 
1466,  regarding  the  use  of  the  Tuscan  vernacular  as  a 
noble  literary  medium,  he  hints  at  the  revolution  printing 
was  to  achieve ;  and  in  1474,  in  another  of  his  letters,  he 
makes  the  following  extraordinary  prophecy  :  "  I  do  not 
think  I  am  far  out  when  I  say  that  a  century  hence  the 
peasant  will  be  able  to  purchase  the  volumes  which  now 
are  within  the  resources  only  of  the  prince.  As  the  waters 
cover  the  sea,  so  I  believe  literature  will  cover  Europe 
from  end  to  end."  Has  his  prediction  not  been  fulfilled  ? 
4.  Lorenzo  (taking  the  idea  from  his  grandfather 
Cosimo),  almost  alone  amongst  his  countrymen  of  that 
epoch,  realised  that  the  Renaissance  was  not  to  be 
merely  an  Italian  movement,  but  was  to  influence 
Europe  and  the  world  as  saliently,  if  not  more  so, 
than  it  had  influenced  Italy.  Hence  his  anxiety  to 
conciliate  scholars  of  all  nationalities.  His  kindness 
to  Reuchlin,  to  Grocyn,  Fleming,  Linacre,  and  others 
has  already  been  noted.2  To  what  has  been  said  this 
alone  need  be  added,  that  Lorenzo's  courtesy  to 
strangers  bore  fruit  in  unexpected  ways.  Who  would 
have  thought  that  his  goodness  to  the  three  English- 
men in  question  would  have  been  returned  to  him 
through  another  channel  ?  When  he  wrote  Henry  vn. 
with  regard  to  the  wool  trade,  Grocyn  and  Linacre 
were  able  to  render  substantial  assistance  to  Lorenzo's 

1  See  ante,  p.  130. 

2  Not  Colet,  as  has  sometimes  been  snid.      Colet  did  not  go  to  Italy 
till  1493,  the  year  after  Lorenzo's  death. 


182  THE   MEDICI  AND 

cause  by  relating  the  kindness  they  had  received  from 
the  Magnifico.  Further,  Lorenzo  was  always  ready  to 
aid  in  the  establishment  of  any  libraries,  by  furnish- 
ing copies  of  the  MSS.  and  books  in  his  own  collection. 
In  fact,  he  seemed  to  consider  himself  only  the  cus- 
todian of  his  treasures ;  "  Why  should  we  keep  them  to 
ourselves,  and  not  let  Europe  share  the  benefits  of 
the  new  culture  ? "  was  his  remark.  During  the  last 
year  or  two  of  his  life,  his  correspondence,  large  before, 
became  almost  doubled,  owing  to  the  communications 
he  continued  to  maintain  with  scholars  in  other  parts 
of  Europe.  With  Joannes  Andronicus  Callistus,  who 
resided  during  his  latter  years  in  France,  he  corre- 
sponded over  Greek  inscriptions  on  coins  and  jewels; 
to  Janus  Lascaris,  his  literary  agent,  he  was  constantly 
writing  asking  him  to  call  upon  various  scholars  in 
the  places  where  for  the  time  he  chanced  to  be,  to 
obtain  their  opinion  on  certain  matters.  His  letters, 
as  still  preserved  in  Florence,  also  in  the  University 
of  Paris  and  the  Imperial  Library  at  Berlin,  are  in- 
tensely interesting,  throwing  as  they  do  a  curious 
light  upon  the  enthusiasm  wherewith  he  fostered 
Renaissance  studies.1  Even  when  his  mind  must  have 
been  distracted  by  plots  at  home  and  complications 
abroad,  he  was  ever  ready  to  listen  to  and  discuss 
any  proposal  whereby  the  results  of  Renaissance 
culture  might  be  popularised.  To  him  learning  pre- 
sented itself  under  the  aspect  of  a  universal  gift  to 
humanity,  not  as  the  prerogative  or  perquisite  of 
any  special  nation  or  class  of  persons. 

5.  Another  point  in  connection  with  which  the  Renais- 
sance owed  a  deep  debt  of  gratitude  to  Lorenzo  was  this, 
1  Herder,  Ideensur  Gcschichte  de  Menschheit;  also  his  HumanitiUsbriefe. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         183 

that  he  was  the  first  among  all  the  great  patrons  of 
the  new  movement  to  urge  on  scholars  the  necessity  for 
mutual  concentration  of  effort  in  place  of  individual 
jealousy  and  rivalry.  In  pointing  out  how  much 
might  be  achieved  by  "  specialism "  in  scholarship,  he 
also  indicated  the  necessity  for  a  still  more  complete 
division  of  labour,  by  companies  of  Humanists  working 
in  harmony  on  separate  parts  of  the  same  subject, 
and  communicating  their  results  to  each  other.  For 
this  end  he  sought  to  promote  the  extension  of 
"  Academies,"  and  great  was  his  joy  to  witness  the 
harmony  in  aim  and  diversity  of  gifts  and  inclinations 
which  characterised  Ficino,  Landino,  Poliziano,  and 
Giovanni  Pico  della  Mirandola.  To  us  of  the  twentieth 
century  his  ideas  seem  almost  matter  of  course.  But 
when  mooted  in  the  fifteenth,  they  were  hailed  with 
delight  as  the  opinions  of  one  of  the  sagest  adminis- 
trators of  the  age.1  The  conception  of  our  modern 
universities  owes  much  to  Lorenzo.2  The  Scaligers, 
Budaeus,  Casaubon,  and  others  adopted  his  plans,  and 
developed  them  along  lines  entirely  undreamt  of  by 
Lorenzo.  The  Renaissance  therefore  might  have  died 
down  into  a  scholar's  enthusiasm  for  the  monuments 
of  antiquity,  had  Lorenzo  not  read  into  the  meaning 
of  the  word,  an  interest  in  "  literature "  of  all  types, 
vernacular  as  well  as  classical. 

6.  Nor  should  we  forget  that  to  Lorenzo  was  largely 
due  the  attention  paid  to  science  in  the  "  Revival  of 
Learning  "  which  took  place  in  the  fourteenth  century. 
He  had  been  associated  in  youth  with  Leo  Battista 
Alberti,  who  certainly  must  take  rank  as  one  of  the 

1  Cf.  Fabronius  and  Veiimis,  De  Illustr.  Urbis  Fior. ;  also  Ammirato. 

2  Ficini  Episloloai  ;  and  George  Buchanan's  comments  thereupon. 


1 84  THE  MEDICI  AND 

most  marvellously  gifted  "  geniuses "  the  world  has 
seen.  Whether  we  regard  him  from  the  point  of 
view  of  art,  of  science,  or  of  literature,  he  occupies 
in  each  department  the  position  of  pioneer  and  pre- 
cursor.1 He  must  be  allowed  to  rank  amongst  the 
early  Italian  scientists.  Not  only  by  reason  of  his 
works  on  "  Architecture "  is  this  position  claimed  for 
him,  but  because  he  devoted  himself  to  the  pursuit 
of  science  on  the  scientific  principles  of  observation 
and  experiment.  Let  me  again  quote  what  Symonds 
says  of  him,  a  passage  already  cited — 

"  It  is  believed  he  anticipated  some  modern  discoveries  in 
optics  and  he  certainly  advanced  the  science  of  perspective. 
Like  his  compeer  Lionardo,  he  devoted  attention  to  mechanics, 
and  devised  machinery  for  raising  sunken  ships.  Like  Lion- 
ardo, again,  he  was  never  tired  of  interrogating  nature,  con- 
ducting curious  experiments,  and  watching  her  more  secret 
operations."  2 

This  was  the  man  to  whom  Lorenzo  in  youth  was 
drawn  by  that  magnetic  attraction  which  Alberti 
exercised  over  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 
From  him  the  Magnifico  imbibed  that  love  of  science 
which  distinguished  him  all  through  life.  Under  his 
direction  he  erected  that  laboratory  for  the  prosecution 
in  those  experiments  which  proved  such  a  delight 
to  him.  Although  his  chemistry  savoured  too  much 
of  alchemy  and  thaumaturgy, — for  the  quest  after 
the  alkahest  or  universal  solvent  whereby  the  baser 
metals  would  be  transmuted  into  gold,  and  the  grand 
elixir  which  would  confer  immortal  youth  upon  him 

Symonds,  Renaissance,  vol.  iv.  p.  159. 

2  Renaissance,  vol.  ii.  p.  248  ;  see  ante,  p.  105. 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         185 

who  quaffed  it,  had  by  no  means  been  laughed  out 
of  fashion, — still,  he  did  much  good  by  fostering  the 
love  of  the  practical  questioning  of  nature  and  her 
elements,  from  which  the  verified  principles  of  true 
science  have  been  evolved.  For  the  Arabian  investi- 
gators of  the  Middle  Ages  Lorenzo  entertained  a 
high  respect.  The  speculations  of  Giaber,  the  dis- 
coverer of  "  Strong  Acids,"  Avicenna,  Averroes,  were 

o  ' 

studied  by  him  with  intense  application,  and  his 
patronage  was  warmly  extended  to  any  youths  who 
showed  an  aptitude  for  scientific  research. 

7.  Lorenzo  carried  out  the  true  spirit  of  the 
"  Revival  of  Letters  "  by  regarding  the  term  "  Renais- 
sance" as  applicable  to  modern  Italian  as  well  as 
to  ancient  classic  "  literature."  From  this  position, 
of  course,  the  inevitable  corollary  was,  that  the  ver- 
nacular literature  of  every  land  ought  to  be  cultivated 
by  its  inhabitants.  Lorenzo  therefore,  in  that  great 
conflict  between  the  advocates  of  "  Ancient "  as  opposed 
to  "  Modern "  Learning,  which  Swift  has  portrayed 
with  such  sustained  irony  in  his  prose  satire  The 
Battle  of  the  Books,  had  always  ranged  himself 
on  the  side  of  the  "  Moderns."  Attached  though 
he  was  to  classic  studies,  he  persistently  main- 
tained that  although  the  best  mental  training  was 
to  be  obtained  from  the  study  of  the  classics,  the 
supreme  and  perfect  voice  of  a  nation's  life  could 
find  expression  only  in  a  vernacular  literature.  His 
defence  of  Italian  letters  in  his  famous  letter  to 
Federigo  of  Naples,  albeit  penned  in  youth,  shows  a 
soundness  of  judgment  and  a  closeness  of  reasoning 
scarcely  to  be  expected  in  one  so  young.  Not  only 
did  he,  preach  but  he  practised,  and  his  "  poems  in 


i  86  THE  MEDICI   AND 

the  vulgar  tongue,"  as  he  called  them,  rank  him  in 
the  judgment  of  all  competent  critics  very  high  indeed 
among  Italian  poets  of  the  second  degree.  Had  he 
written  nothing  save  his  pastoral  or  rustic  pieces, 
smacking  as  they  do  so  unmistakably  of  "  Flora  and 
the  country  green,"  he  would  have  laid  his  native 
land  under  a  deep  debt  of  gratitude.  But  there  is 
not  a  department  of  vernacular  verse  which  he  has 
not  cultivated  with  conspicuous  success,  and  though 
he  had  not  the  soaring  genius  of  Poliziano,  the  point 
would  be  a  nice  one  for  critical  decision  whether 
Italian  literature  does  not  owe  more  to  the  "  Mag- 
nifico"  than  to  the  great  Humanist. 

SECTION  5. — Lorenzo's  Patronage  of  Art  and  Letters 
POPES — Paul  IT.,  1464  ;  Sixtus  iv.,  1471  ;  Innocent  vin.,  1484 

Lorenzo  de'  Medici's  patronage  of  Renaissance  art 
was  as  discriminating  as  it  was  devoted.  The  Laur- 
entian  epoch,  though  one  can  scarcely  separate  it 
from  that  of  Cosimo  as  regards  style,  most  assuredly 
can  be  differentiated  by  a  greater  simplicity  and  chaste- 
ness  in  the  quality  of  the  work.  The  aim  of  Lorenzo 
in  art  as  in  literature  was  to  foster  naturalness  in 
conception  united  to  Hellenic  simplicity  in  execution. 
Upon  all  his  proteges  he  impressed  the  principle,  that 
the  highest  art  was  to  conceal  art,  and  that  this 
result  could  only  be  achieved  by  holding  the  mirror 
up  to  nature.  Hellenic  purity  of  taste  in  design,  as 
well  as  Hellenic  chasteness  and  severe  simplicity  in 
execution,  were  the  Renaissance  principles  inculcated 
by  Lorenzo  in  art  as  well  as  in  literature.  His 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         187 

beneficiaries,  whose  desire  was  to  merit  his  approval, 
adopted  these  doctrines  and  exemplified  them  in  all 
their  work,  so  that  to  him  is  largely  due  that  noble 
simplicity  in  painting,  sculpture,  and  architecture  char- 
acteristic of  the  Laurentian  epoch. 

To  name  all  the  painters,  sculptors,  architects, 
workers  in  wood  and  metals,  etc.  whom  Lorenzo  en- 
couraged by  his  patronage  and  in  many  cases  sup- 
ported by  his  bounty  would  be  impossible.  As  has 
been  remarked  already,  no  lad  whose  youth  gave 
promise  of  a  glorious  prime  ever  applied  to  Lorenzo 
in  vain.  But  for  his  encouragement  Antonio  Polla- 
juolo  could  never  have  pursued  his  studies  into  the 
anatomy  of  the  human  frame,  which  converted  painting, 
from  haphazard  guesswork,  into  an  intelligent  appli- 
cation of  scientific  principles.  Though  Luca  della 
Robbia  was  an  old  man  by  the  time  Lorenzo  succeeded 
his  father,  yet  was  it  not  the  youth  who  stimulated 
Piero  to  assist  the  great  sculptor  in  his  attempt  to  bring 
to  perfection  his  invention  of  "  coloured-glaze,"  which 
converted  clay  into  a  valuable  substitute  for  marble. 

Then  as  regards  oil  painting,  how  much  was  due  to 
his  patronage  that  the  idea  really  took  root  among 
artists,  has  never  really  been  gauged.  Hitherto  the 
work  of  the  leading  colourists  in  Tuscany  had  been 
executed  in  what  was  called  "  distemper,"  namely,  with 
pigments  rendered  cohesive  by  the  use  of  glutinous 
substances.  Stimulated,  however,  by  Lorenzo's  encour- 
agement, Andrea  da  Castagna  began  experimenting 
in  "  oils,"  and  finally  succeeded  in  revolutionising  his 
craft.  Aided  by  the  Magnifico  also,  who  placed  his 
unrivalled  collection  of  relics  of  antiquity  at  his  ser- 
vice, the  young  Filippo  Lippi  devoted  himself  to  the 


i88  THE  MEDICI   AND 

study  of  the  antique,  in  order  that  the  backgrounds 
and  minor  details  in  his  pictures  might  be  accurate 
as  well  as  spirited.  Luca  Signorelli,  whose  skill  in 
portraying  the  beauty  of  the  human  form  and  the 
variations  of  expression  on  the  human  countenance, 
excited  the  wonder  of  his  own  age ;  Verrocchio,  the 
apostle  of  Realism  in  sculpture  and  painting,  who  if 
he  did  not  invent,  at  least  rendered  general  the  practice 
of  taking  casts  from  the  faces  of  the  dead ;  Lorenzo  di 
Credi,  who  as  a  colourist  preached  and  practised  the 
doctrine  that  careful  attention  to  minute  gradation  of 
hues  and  tints  was  the  secret  of  success  in  brush  work  ; 
Sandro  Botticelli,  who  produced  so  many  portraits  of 
the  family,  all  executed  with  that  harmonious  colouring, 
simplicity,  and  truth  to  nature  which  distinguished 
him,  that  Armstrong  styles  him  the  "  Court  painter  of 
the  Medici " ;  Piero  de'  Cosimo,  who  presents  such  a 
subtle  union  of  the  fantastic  and  the  naturalistic,  the 
humorous  and  the  sad;  Leo  Battista  Alberti,  whose 
influence  as  architect,  painter,  and  sculptor  was  scarcely 
less  than  as  poet,  scientist,  and  philosopher;  Ghir- 
landaio,  who  while  dealing  almost  solely  with  religious 
themes  yet  treats  them  in  a  curiously  matter  of  fact 
style ;  Rosellino,  Mino  da  Fiesole,  and  many  other  minor 
names,  all  owed  much  to  Lorenzo  in  the  way  of  en- 
couragement, inspiration,  and,  above  all,  criticism.  For 
Lorenzo,  like  his  grandfather  Cosimo,  would  only  re- 
cognise the  art  of  his  friends  in  their  best  work.  To 
be  deemed  worthy  of  a  place  in  one  of  Lorenzo's  villas 
was  the  ambition  of  all  his  proteges;  but  as  they 
recognised  that  only  the  highest  expression  of  their 
genius  would  meet  with  his  approval  and  win  the  prize 
of  his  praise,  his  patronage  was  an  important  factor  in 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         189 

producing  those  masterpieces  which  constitute  the 
glory  of  the  Laurentian  age. 

To  Lorenzo's  perception  of  their  outstanding  genius, 
amid  many  other  aspirants  to  his  favour,  both  Lionardo 
da  Vinci  and  Michael  Angelo  owed  their  first  step  on 
the  ladder  of  fame.  Both  were  admitted  to  his  house 
and  to  his  table,  while  the  former  was  sent  by  him  to 
Milan,  where  he  speedily  rose  to  eminence.  Michael 
Angelo  lived  as  his  son  in  the  Palazzo  Medici  until 
Lorenzo's  death,  when  his  protege  was  but  eighteen. 
Picro,  the  Magnifico's  son  and  successor,  certainly 
showed  the  lad  great  kindness,  but  ere  long  the  patron 
was  a  fugitive  who  himself  needed  shelter. 

Nor  was  architecture  forgotten  by  Lorenzo.  In 
Giuliano  Giamberti,  nicknamed  "San  Gallo,"  Lorenzo 
discovered  a  genius  who,  if  he  did  not  rival  Brunelleschi 
and  Ghiberti,  showed  a  "  modernness  "  in  his  ideas  and 
a  power  of  combining  artistic  grace  with  an  attention 
to  such  practical  details  as  commodiousness  and  con- 
venience, which  rendered  him  one  of  the  most  popular 
architects  of  the  age.  Benedetto  da  Maiano  was  an- 
other who  benefited  much  by  Lorenzo's  encouragement. 

To  name  here  all  the  branches  of  art  or  industry 
which  enjoyed  the  Magnifico's  fostering  care  would  be 
impossible.  He  encouraged  gem  engraving;  majolica- 
work  also  received  a  share  of  his  attention;  he 
subsidised  the  rearing  of  silk  worms,  and  brought 
skilled  workmen  from  Bruges  to  initiate  a  Florentine 
tapestry  factory.  Even  music  was  a  passion  with  this 
many-sided  patron  of  the  arts.  While  some  of  his 
friends,  such  as  Ficino,  Baccio  Ugolino,  and  Lionardo 
da  Vinci  were  fine  performers  on  the  lyre  and  flute,  he 
had  a  profound  regard  for  the  great  organist  of  the 


190  THE  MEDICI   AND 

cathedral,  Antonio  Squarcialupi,  then  regarded  as  one 
of  the  best  executants  in  the  world.  The  Belgian 
composer,  Josquin  Despres  of  Hainault,  who,  as  Mr. 
Armstrong  says,  was  long  in  Rome  under  Sixtus  IV., 
and  visited  Florence  more  than  once  during  Lorenzo's 
lifetime,  was  another  friend  and  correspondent ;  while 
Agricola  and  Obrecht,  distinguished  musicians  and 
composers  of  their  day,  were  frequently  his  guests. 
But  the  composer  who  had  the  most  intimate  relations 
with  Lorenzo  was  Heinrich  Isaak,  the  Bohemian. 

"  He  is  said  to  have  been  sent  on  a  diplomatic  mission  by 
Maximilian,  whose  Court  composer  he  afterwards  became. 
For  several  years  he  was  in  Lorenzo's  service  and  society, 
setting  to  music  his  drama  of  San  Giovanni  and  San  Paolo, 
the  ballads  and  the  part  songs  for  the  carnival,  throwing  him- 
self into  the  gay  secular  life  of  the  city.  .  .  .  Lorenzo  found 
in  him  the  musician  through  whom  his  own  love  for  popular 
poetry  could  find  expression."  1 

Such,  then,  was  Lorenzo's  interest  in  art,  the  interest 
of  a  man  whose  intellectual  and  artistic  cravings  were 
as  manifold  and  as  diverse  as  the  complete  circle  of 
the  arts  and  sciences.  If  we  except  such  "  marvels  "  of 
culture  as  Alberti,  Lionardo,  and  Pico,  was  there  one 
other  son  of  that  wondrous  age  who,  inspired  by  the 
spirit  of  the  Renaissance,  attempted  so  many  things 
and  achieved  success  almost  the  highest  in  them  all  ? 

Although  this  section  has  already  been  unduly  spun 
out,  we  cannot  pass  from  the  fascinating  theme  of 
Lorenzo's  era,  without  briefly  referring  to  the  group  of 
scholars  which  adorned  his  epoch.  These  were  "  men 
of  letters  "  inspired  by  a  love  of  learning  as  pure  as  it 
1  Armstrong,  Lorenzo  de1  Medici,  p.  440. 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         191 

was  profound.  Gain  or  self-interest  weighed  as  naught 
with  such  natures  as  Alberti  or  Ficino.  The  individual 
was  lost  in  the  cause,  and,  provided  it  progressed,  what 
mattered  it  what  the  martyrs  of  letters  had  to  suffer. 
We  have  already  referred  on  more  than  one  occasion 
to  Leo  Battista  Alberti.  The  intellectual  congener  of 
Lionardo  da  Vinci  in  grasp  of  mind,  he  was  fully  his 
equal,  in  some  respects  his  superior,  in  breadth  of  sym- 
pathy, soaring  sublimity  of  conception,  and  exhaustless 
versatility  of  accomplishments,  for  it  was  through  his 
association  with  Alberti  that  Lionardo  was  stimulated 
to  develop  his  powers  along  similar  lines.  Born  about 
1405  in  Venice,  where  his  father,  exiled  by  the  Albizzi, 
had  sought  refuge,  the  young  scholar  did  not  find  his 
way  back  to  Florence  until  the  rule  of  the  ottimati  was 
finally  overthrown  by  Cosimo  in  1434.  From  early  boy- 
hood until  age  he  was  an  intense  student.  Gifted  with 
a  memory  whose  grip  upon  facts  when  once  acquired 
was  like  that  of  the  octopus  upon  its  prey,  by  the  time 
he  was  twenty  he  was  already  regarded  as  one  of  the 
most  learned  men  of  his  epoch.  To  the  study  of  the 
classics  and  of  antiquity  generally,  he  had  devoted  him- 
self with  such  enthusiasm  that  at  the  age  stated  he 
composed  the  comedy  of  Philodoxius,  which  was  so 
admirable  an  imitation  of  the  antique  that  it  passed  for 
the  work  of  a  new  writer  of  the  Terentian  age,  Lepidus 
Comicus,  and  as  such  was  actually  published  by  the 
Aldi.  The  entire  round  of  the  arts  and  sciences  was 
mastered  by  him.  His  insight  into  every  branch  of 
knowledge  seemed  intuitive,  and  his  command  of  the 
arts  was  innate,  says  Symonds,  to  which  we  may  add 
that  his  modesty  and  utter  lack  of  self -consciousness 
were  as  charming  as  his  supreme  gifts  were  impressive. 


192  THE  MEDICI  AND 

Though  one  of  the  leading  classical  scholars  of  his  time, 
and  a  man  imbued  with  the  most  varied  culture  of  the 
Renaissance,  Leo  Battista  Alberti  preferred  to  devote 
himself  to  the  task  of  restoring  the  vernacular  literature 
to  honour.  He  it  was  who  stimulated  Lorenzo  to  ex- 
pend his  poetical  powers  in  compositions  in  the  vulgar 
tongue,  and  one  epigrammatic  sentence  the  Magnifico 
never  forgot,  revealing  as  it  does  Alberti's  wonderful 
prescience:  "The  Present  may  blame  you  for  casting 
away  what  it  thinks  your  only  prescriptive  claim  to 
remembrance,  but  posterity  will  bless  you :  for,  mark 
my  words,  in  a  couple  of  hundred  years  modern  Latin 
poetry  will  be  forgotten,  but  a  living  tongue  like  the 
Italian  will  last  for  ever."  His  vernacular  writings  are 
of  great  value,  his  Treatise  of  the  Family,1  his  Deiciar- 
chia,  his  Teogenio,  his  manuals  on  art,  his  satiric  essays 
and  Novelle,  and  last  but  not  least  his  poems,  all  betray 
genius  of  high  order.  Alberti  has  never  received  the 
recognition  due  to  his  supreme  ability.  He  has  been 
overshadowed,  not  by  greater  but  by  more  fortunate 
men,  and,  finally,  he  has  been  obscured  by  the 
picturesque  figure  of  the  great  Magnifico  himself. 
Alberti  died  in  1472. 

Ficino  has  already  been  touched  upon  in  connection 
with  the  age  of  Cosimo,  by  whom  he  was  "  brought 
out " ;  accordingly,  the  name  coming  next  in  order  is 
that  of  Cristoforo  Landino,  the  great  exponent  of 
Aristotelianism.  Born  at  Florence  in  1424,  he  spent 
his  youth  in  teaching  and  study  until  he  was  appointed 
in  1457  to  the  chair  of  Eloquence  and  Poetry  in  his 
native  city,  where  he  continued  to  lecture  upon  Latin 
literature  until  his  death  in  1504.  The  benefits  he 

1  A  part  of  this  was  long  attributed  to  Aguolo  Pandolfiui. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         193 

rendered  to  the  Renaissance  were  incalculable.  Besides 
annotating  Horace  and  Virgil  and  translating  Pliny's 
Natural  Histories,  he  performed  the  most  important  of 
all  services  to  the  "  New  Learning "  by  writing  his 
Camaldolese  Discussions,  which  will  ever  remain  the 
noblest  tribute  ever  paid  to  Florentine  Humanism.  To 
anyone  reading  it  to-day,  the  volume  presents  itself 
as  one  of  the  most  vivid  and  charming  pictures  extant 
of  the  scholar's  life  and  labours  in  the  Valdarno  of  the 
fifteenth  century.  Landino's  character  was  as  lofty  as 
his  writings  were  learned,  and  he  left  the  impress  of 
both  graven  deep  on  the  body  of  his  time.  As  a  critic 
he  was  almost  unrivalled,  while  his  services  to  his  age 
in  preparing  his  great  Commentary  on  Dante  materi- 
ally contributed  to  the  revival  of  vernacular  literature 
and  of  interest  in  the  author  of  the  Divina  Commedia. 
Who  can  satisfactorily  describe  and  classify  the  two 
scholars  who  come  next  ?  Their  natures  were  of  that 
elusively  Protean  type  whereof  Alberti  was  an  eminent 
example.  But  neither  Angelo  Poliziano  nor  Giovanni 
Pico  della  Mirandola  indulged  in  that  wayward  vaga- 
bondage, both  as  regards  life  and  ideas,  which  nullified 
to  some  extent  the  benefit  that  would  otherwise  have 
accrued  from  the  work  of  the  author  of  the  Teogonio. 
Poliziano,  as  we  have  already  more  than  once  re- 
marked, possessed  genius  of  a  very  high  order,  which 
was  fettered,  as  regards  its  fullest  development,  by 
unfortunate  conditions  both  of  station  and  epoch.  He 
also  tied  his  faculties  too  much  to  the  wheels  of  the 
Medicean  chariot,  and,  of  course,  whithersoever  it  led, 
he  had  to  follow.  Poliziano's  genius  was  of  a  cast 
sufficiently  masculine  to  have  influenced  his  epoch  in 
his  own  way.  He  allowed  Lorenzo  to  prescribe  the 
13 


194  THE  MEDICI  AND 

manner  in  which  he  should  influence  it.  Born  in  1454, 
Poliziano  was  therefore  five  years  the  junior  of  his 
patron,  and  he  survived  him  only  two  years,  dying  not 
exactly  of  a  broken  heart,  but  of  sheer  longing  for  the 
return  of  a  regime  wherein  he  had  been  socially  happy, 
but  wherein,  as  far  as  the  development  of  his  genius 
was  concerned,  it  would  have  been  better  had  he  never 
lived.  Poliziano  must  assuredly  be  granted,  in  the 
Italian  hierarchy  of  song,  a  place  amongst  the  im- 
mortals, inasmuch  as  he  did  for  the  literature  of  his 
country  what  Tennyson  four  hundred  years  after 
achieved  for  the  literature  of  England — wedded  beauty 
of  sound  to  aptness  of  sense.  Coming  from  his  native 
Montepulciano, — whence  he  takes  his  name, — at  the  age 
of  ten  he  migrated  to  Florence  to  study  the  belles  lettres 
under  Landino,  Argyropoulos,  Andronicos  Kallistos, 
and  Ficino.  From  the  first,  the  most  marvellous  pre- 
cocity displayed  itself,  allied  to  a  love  of  study  and 
a  perseverance  almost  as  marvellous.  No  fact  ever 
graven  on  the  retentive  palimpsest  of  his  mind  seems 
afterwards  to  have  been  lost  or  even  obscured  amid  later 
accretions  of  knowledge.  His  Latin  epigrams  at  fifteen 
and  his  Greek  at  seventeen  were  the  wonder  of  the 
scholars  of  his  age,  and  the  highest  expectations  were 
formed  of  his  future  eminence.1  The  tradition  that  he 
was  so  poor  that  he  had  to  write  to  Lorenzo  for  cloth- 
ing, and  that  his  verses  of  gratitude  written  in  Latin, 
Greek,  and  Italian  first  attracted  the  Magnifico's  atten- 
tion to  him,  must  be  pronounced  apocryphal,  before  the 
evidence  of  fact  that  two  years  before  the  date  alleged 
for  the  incident  Lorenzo  had  his  eye  on  him,  and  ex- 
pressed his  pleasure  at  his  abilities.  Poliziano  must  be 
1  Tiraboschi,  vol.  vi.  p.  231. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         195 

admitted  to  be  the  greatest  "  all-round  genius  "  modern 
Italy  has  produced.  He  had  not  Dante's  soaring  soul, 
but  in  some  respects  he  was  a  greater  master  of  form 
even  than  Petrarch,  arid  his  power  of  picturesque  scene- 
painting  excelled  even  the  word-pictures  of  Boccaccio. 
As  a  Humanist  he  stands  easily  first,  even  Erasmus 
having  to  take  second  place  in  comparison.  George 
Buchanan  was  the  only  scholar  who  rivalled  him  as  a 
Latinist,  and  he  belongs  to  a  different  epoch.  Poliziano 
absorbed  the  classics  until  they  became  part  and  parcel 
of  his  intellectual  being,  Buchanan  and  he  being  the 
only  two  scholars  of  whom  the  fact  is  recorded  that 
they  thought  in  Latin.  His  culture  was  nearly  as 
varied  as  his  patron's,  and  his  acquirements,  if  not  so 
encyclopaedic  as  his,  went  infinitely  deeper. 

"He  was  a  pioneer  in  modern  methods  of  scholarship, 
in  criticism,  in  interpretation,  in  emendation.  He  ascribed 
the  highest  importance  to  exhaustive  collation  of  MSS.,  and 
took  all  pains  to  found  his  text  upon  the  best.  Tlnis  his 
edition  of  the  Pandects  was  for  very  long  unrivalled.  He 
applied,  moreover,  to  scholarship  a  systematic  study  of  numis- 
matics and  epigraphy,  and,  not  content  with  the  Medicean 
collections,  travelled  to  Home,  Venice,  and  Verona  in  search 
of  fresh  material.  At  the  age  of  twenty-six  Politian  obtained 
the  Chair  of  Latin  and  Greek  Eloquence.  Rarely  has  a  pro- 
fessor been  so  prolific  and  so  stimulating.  Replete  with  learn- 
ing, his  lectures  were  no  dry  comment  on  the  text ;  his  aim 
was  to  give  his  pupils  a  passion  for  their  subject.  In  each  of  his 
introductions  he  illustrated  the  whole  branch  of  literature  of 
which  this  author  was  a  type.  Suetonius  was  taken  as  a  text 
for  a  lecture  on  historical  method,  Persius  for  another  on  the 
origin  and  elements  of  satire." l 

1  Armstrong,  Lorenzo  dc'  Medici,  p.  357. 


196  THE  MEDICI  AND 

His  Italian  poems  are  finished  gems  as  to  form,  albeit 
a  little  superficial  in  thought.  But  in  judging  of  the 
Orfeo,  Giostra,  Stanze,  also  of  his  Canzone,  ballate,  and 
rispetti,  the  fact  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  during  the 
Medicean  epoch  form  was  esteemed  everything.  Taken 
as  a  whole,  the  genius  of  Poliziano  is  one  of  the  glories 
of  the  Italian  Renaissance,  because,  in  producing  him,  it 
moulded  the  mind  of  one  of  the  greatest  of  Italian  writers. 

Giovanni  Pico  della  Mirandola  was  another  of  those 
strangely  constituted  men  whose  type  is  only  to  be 
met  with  during  the  Renaissance.  Born  about  1464,  he 
arrived  in  Florence  in  1484,  a  youth  as  marvellously 
beautiful  in  person  as  he  was  richly  gifted  as  to 
"  genius  "  and  accomplishments.  To  him,  as  to  Poliziano, 
the  term  genius  may  be  applied  without  risk  of  mis- 
nomer. From  earliest  boyhood  he  had  plunged  into 
the  study  of  languages,  ancient  and  modern,  and  of 
philosophy.  When,  therefore,  he  appeared  in  Florence, 
he  created  a  furore  of  interest  such  as  had  never  been 
known  before.  He  occupied  one  of  the  palazzos,  kept 
a  large  retinue  of  servants  and  a  splendid  style  of 
living,  yet  personally  his  habits  were  almost  those  of 
an  anchorite.  For  a  time  he  indulged  in  the  pleasures 
of  the  gay  city,  spending  what  time  he  could  with  the 
scholars  and  Humanists  then  residing  in  Valdarno. 
Whether  he  found  his  purse  was  unable  to  stand  the 
drain  upon  it,  or  he  really  suffered  from  remorse  of 
conscience  over  wasted  days,  certain  it  is  he  abruptly 
withdrew  himself  from  that  society  whereof  he  was  the 
idol,  and  became  well-nigh  a  recluse.  Although  intro- 
duced to  the  Platonic  philosophy  prior  to  his  arrival  in 
Florence,  he  did  not  realise  its  potent  possibilities,  or  its 
mysterious  magnetism,  until  he  came  under  the  influ- 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         197 

ence  of  Ficino  in  the  Academy.  The  great  system  of 
Grecian  Idealism  simply  took  possession  of  his  whole 
nature.  Naught  else  was  accounted  of  moment  that 
had  not  some  connection,  direct  or  derived,  with  the 
speculations  of  the  Sage  of  Academe.  To  find  common 
ground  of  harmony  between  Platonism  and  the  Chris- 
tian theology  was  the  task  to  which  he  addressed  him- 
self. Not  the  mere  reconciliation  of  the  diverse 
systems  was  his  aim,  but  to  reduce  them  both  to  their 
original  elements,  and  to  discover  in  those  elements  the 
traces  of  the  unity  of  all  human  knowledge — that  was 
his  quest. 

"He  sought  to  seize  the  soul  of  truth  that  animates  all 
systems.  Not  the  classics  nor  the  Scriptures  alone,  but  the 
writings  of  the  Schoolmen,  the  glosses  of  Arabic  philosophers, 
and  the  more  obscure  products  of  Hebrew  erudition  had  for 
him  their  solid  value."  l 

He  even  plunged  into  the  study  of  the  Cabbala,  in 
the  hope  of  finding  something  there  that  would  afford 
him  that  universal  solvent  which  he  sought  for  all 
diverse  systems.  But  he  only  succeeded  in  imparting 
a  permanent  twist  to  his  previously  powerful  and 
straightforward  mind.  The  new  aim,  which  hence- 
forward was  to  engross  all  his  attention  until  his  death, 
was  to  prove  Christianity  an  eclectic  system,  wherein 
harmonising  principles  taken  from  all  the  philosophies 
found  a  place,  but  where  the  basis  of  all  was  to  be  dis- 
covered in  the  esoteric  teaching  of  the  Jews.2  The 
work  achieved  by  Pico  was  largely  thrown  away, 
inasmuch  as  he  did  not  advance  far  enough  to  toucli 

1  Symonrls,  Renaissance,  vol.  ii.  p.  241. 

2  Cf.  Pico's  Apologia. 


ip8  THE  MEDICI  AND 

the  fringe  of  modern  philosophy.  Notwithstanding 
this,  his  labours  during  the  Renaissance  epoch  bore  a 
measure  of  fruit,  in  stimulating  the  ambition  of  others 
and  in  leading  scholars  to  realise  the  importance  of 
the  great  doctrine  which  inculcates  the  necessity  for 
unifying  and  classifying  human  knowledge.  The  in- 
fluence of  his  pure,  noble,  learning-devoted  life  lingered 
long  after  him.  "  If  any  example  would  make  a  man 
a  scholar,  it  would  be  that  of  Pico  della  Mirandola," 
said  Tasso,  nearly  a  century  later. 

To  the  others  who  ranked  among  Lorenzo's  intimates 
only  passing  mention  can  be  accorded.  Bartolommeo 
Scala,  who  died  Chancellor  of  Florence,  furnished  an 
instance  of  the  democratic  character  of  the  civic 
hierarchy.  Based  alone  on  merit,  birth  was  rather  a 
bar  than  a  benefit  in  facilitating  promotion.  Scala 
was  the  miller's  son  at  Colle,  was  born  about  1430, 
attracted  the  notice  of  Cosimo,  who  received  him  into 
his  household,  and  advanced  his  fortunes  until  he 
became  Chancellor  in  1472,  on  the  death  of  Benedetto 
Accolti.  He  was  a  capable  scholar,  his  apologues  being 
highly  commended  by  Landino  and  Ficino.  He  wrote 
poems  in  both  Latin  and  Italian,  which  are  still  extant ; 
and  a  History  of  Florence,  whereof  he  only  completed 
four  books.  He  had  the  misfortune,  for  his  own 
reputation,  to  provoke  the  wrath  of  Poliziano,  first 
because  Scala  unwisely  taunted  him  with  being  a 
dependant  on  the  Medici,  and  second,  because  the 
beautiful  Alessandra  della  Scala,  after  exchanging 
amatory  Greek  epigrams  with  the  great  Humanist, 
chose  to  marry  Michael  Marullus  rather  than  her 
correspondent.1 

1  Poliziano,  Ej)iyrams,  lib.  xi. 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         199 

Ermolao  Barbaro  was  another  of  Lorenzo's  "jackals," 
and  scoured  Europe  in  the  search  after  MSS.,  inscrip- 
tions, engraved  gems,  and  relics  of  antiquities  of  all 
kinds.  In  addition,  he  was  a  prolific  author.  His 
treatise,  De  Ccelibatu,  written  when  only  eighteen, 
and  his  Castigationes  Pliniance,  entitle  him  to  rank 
with  the  most  successful  restorers  of  the  ancient  learn- 
ing. His  life  was  as  exemplary  as  his  learning  was 
extensive.  Though  living  mostly  at  Venice,  he  spent 
much  time  in  Florence. 

Luigi  Pulci,  too,  must  be  named  as  another  of 
Lorenzo's  intimates.  In  addition  to  his  interest  in  the 
revival  of  classic  letters,  he  was  a  poet  of  a  high  order, 
his  Morgante  Maggiore  still  taking  rank  as  one  of 
the  great  epics  in  Italian  literature.  In  common  with 
Matteo  Franco,  he  engaged  in  one  of  those  satiric  con- 
tests so  popular  at  this  epoch,  wherein  the  combatants 
said  the  harshest  and  bitterest  things  of  each  other 
without  apparently  affecting  the  terms  of  mutual 
friendship  whereon  they  stood.  We  have  an  instance  of 
the  same  in  Scots  literature  in  the  Flyting  of  Dunbar 
and  Kennedy.1  Matteo  Franco  was  a  learned  canon  in 
Florence,  whose  zeal  on  behalf  of  the  Renaissance  was 
such  that  he  copied  with  his  own  hand  many  of  the 
Latin  and  Greek  texts,  that  he  might  impress  their 
beauties  on  his  memory.  An  excellent  teacher,  Lan- 
dino  used  to  say  he  always  knew  when  a  lad  had  been 
trained  by  Matteo  Franco.  To  Italian  literature  he 
also  devoted  much  attention,  and  delighted  greatly  in 
satiric  compositions. 

Besides  these  leading  scholars,  there  was  a  crowd  of 

1  Cf.  my  volume  on  "William  Dunbar"  in  the  "Famous  Scots 
Series." 


200    MEDICI  AND   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 

men  of  lesser  note,  whose  labours  on  behalf  of  the 
Renaissance  were  not  lost  sight  of  by  Lorenzo.  The 
humblest  Humanist  whose  work  was  inspired  by  love 
of  antiquity  was  held  in  honour  by  the  Magnified.  He 
was  made  welcome  at  his  board,  and  taught  to  feel  that 
scholarship  was  a  surer  passport  to  the  friendship  of 
the  "uncrowned  King  of  Florence"  than  birth  the 
noblest  or  wealth  the  greatest.  Lorenzo  de'  Medici 
completed  the  work  Cosimo  had  commenced,  and  the 
literature  as  well  as  the  scholarship  of  Europe,  as  they 
exist  to-day,  owe  more  to  the  enlightened  policy  and 
self-denying  labours  of  these  two  men  than  to  the 
efforts  of  any  other  patrons  during  that  intellectual 
seedtime. 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE  AGE  OF  CARDINAL  GIOVANNI  DE'  MEDICI, 
AFTERWARDS  POPE  LEO  X.,  1475-1521 

SECTION  1. — His  Life  prior  to  his  Pontificate 

POPES — Sixtus  iv.,  1471  ;  Innocent  vm.,  1484  ;  Alexander  vi., 
1492  ;  Pius  m.,  1503  ;  Julius  IL,  1503 

LORENZO  DE'  MEDICI  left  three  sons  on  whom  devolved 
the  difficult  task  of  proving  themselves  the  worthy 
progeny  of  such  a  parent.  In  life,  their  father  used  to 
say  that  his  eldest  boy  Piero  would  be  distinguished 
for  ability,  his  second  Giovanni  for  probity,  his  third 
Giuliano  for  an  amiable  temper.1  Singular  how 
all  these  prognostications  should  have  been  falsified. 
Piero,  at  the  crisis,  when  the  making  or  the  marring 
of  his  whole  future  depended  on  the  attitude  he  would 
assume  towards  Charles  vm.,  behaved  as  only  a  terrified 
schoolboy  would  have  done,  showing  that,  whatever  else 
might  be  present  in  his  character,  true  courage — his 
father's  courage — was  awanting.  Poliziano,  who  had 
been  his  tutor,  entertained  the  highest  hopes  of  him, 
remarking  that  he  possessed  "  the  talents  of  his  father, 
the  virtues  of  his  grandfather,  and  the  prudence  of  the 

1  Cf.  Valori  in  Vila  di  Lorenzo,  p.  64. 
201 


202  THE  MEDICI   AND 

venerable  Cosimo."  The  correspondents,  also,  of  the 
great  Florentine  Humanist l  are  perpetually  referring  to 
the  abilities  of  the  heir  of  the  Magnifico,  and  augur- 
ing well  for  the  future  of  Florence  under  his  rule. 

o 

Affection  for  the  father  possibly  rendered  them  blind 
to  the  faults  of  mind  and  will,  which,  as  he  grew  older, 
made  themselves  painfully  evident  in  the  son. 

The  third  son,  Giuliano,  as  Roscoe  says,  was  more 
distinguished  by  his  attention  to  the  cause  of  liter- 
ature, and  by  his  mild  and  affable  disposition,  than  by 
his  talent  for  political  affairs.  For  a  time  he  was  in- 
trusted with  the  government  of  the  city  of  Florence 
after  the  return  of  the  family  from  banishment,  but 
his  health  and  his  inclinations  were  alike  unfitted  for 
such  a  position.  He  therefore  took  up  his  residence 
in  Rome,  where  he  played  the  part  of  the  literary 
Maecenas  during  the  pontificate  of  his  brother.  Having 
married  Philiberta,  sister  of  Charles,  Duke  of  Savoy, 
and  a  descendant  of  the  house  of  Bourbon,  he  was 
created  Duke  of  Nemours  by  Francis  I.  He  inherited 
no  small  share  of  his  father's  genius,  and,  had  he  lived, 
would  have  added  still  further  lustre  to  the  name.  He 
died  at  the  age  of  thirty-seven.  In  Bembo's  great 
dialogue  upon  the  Italian  language,  he  is  introduced  as 
one  of  the  interlocutors,2  and  he  also  has  a  place  in 
Castiglione's  still  more  celebrated  work,  The  Book  of 
the  Courtier.  On  this  point  Roscoe  adds  that  in  the 
Laurentian  Library  several  of  his  sonnets  are  still 
preserved, "  and  some  specimens  of  his  compositions  are 
adduced  by  Crescimbeni,  which,  if  they  do  not  display 
any  very  extraordinary  spirit  of  poetry,  sufficiently 

1  Politian,  Ejris.,  lib.  xii.  ep.  6. 

2  Cf.  Bembo,  Opera,  torn.  v.  p.  197  (editio  1570). 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE        203 

prove  that  to  a  correct  judgment  he  united  an  elegant 
taste."  J 

Of  the  three  sons  of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  he 
who  in  largest  measure  inherited  the  varied  abilities 
of  the  father  was  Giovanni,  the  one  who  occupies  the 
middle  place  in  point  of  age.  He  was  destined  from 
infancy  for  the  Church,  in  deference  to  the  pious  wishes 
of  his  mother,  Madonna  Clarice.  Brought  forward 
into  the  public  gaze  when  still  little  more  than  a  babe, 
and  with  the  necessity  for  keeping  up  his  dignity  con- 
tinually impressed  on  him,  he  never  seems  to  have 
been  a  child  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word.  His  pro- 
motion was  unprecedentedly  rapid.  At  seven  years  of 
age  he  was  admitted  into  holy  orders,  receiving  the 
tonsure  from  Gentile,  Bishop  of  Arezzo.  This  entitled 
him  to  accept  ecclesiastical  preferment,  and  gave  him 
the  right  to  call  himself  "Messer  Giovanni."  Before 
reaching  eight  he  was  appointed,  by  Louis  xi.  of 
France,  Abbot  of  Fonte  Dolce,  which  was  followed 
almost  immediately  by  a  presentation  to  the  Arch- 
bishopric of  Aix  in  Provence.  This,  however,  could 
not  be  carried  into  effect,  as  it  was  found  that  the 
occupant  of  the  See  was  still  living.  Giovanni,  there- 
fore, had  to  rest  content  with  the  abbacy  of  the  rich 
Tuscan  monastery  of  Passignano,  while  Ludovico  Moro 
assigned  him  that  of  Miramondo,  and  Ferrante  of 
Naples  the  wealthy  Monte  Cassino. 

From  early  boyhood  Giovanni  de'  Medici  was  a  hard 
student.  That  he  could  be  otherwise  was  scarcely 
possible,  seeing  he  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  Poliziano's 
training  as  tutor,  while  Ficino  in  the  Platonic  phil- 
osophy, and  Landino  in  the  Aristotelian,  acted  as  his 
1  Roscoe's  Lorenzo  dc'  Medici,  p.  357. 


204  THE  MEDICI  AND 

instructors.  They  all  testify  to  his  diligence  and  high 
moral  tone.  At  first  the  future  Pope  seemed  to  have 
felt  a  kind  of  repulsion  towards  Poliziano,  owing  possibly 
to  the  influence  of  his  mother,  who  conceived  an  intense 
dislike  towards  the  distinguished  Florentine  scholar. 
After  the  death  of  Clarice,  Giovanni  came  to  under- 
stand the  nobler  side  of  his  tutor's  nature,  and  they 
became  warmly  attached  to  each  other.  This  led  to 
greater  assiduity  in  classic  studies,  and  in  consequence 
to  greater  proficiency  in  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages. 
He  also  received  instruction  from  Demetrius  Chal- 
condyles  and  Petrus  Egineta ;  and,  after  Poliziano  was 
appointed  to  the  Chair  of  Greek  and  Latin  Eloquence, 
Bernardo  Dovisi,  better  known  as  Bernardo  da  Bibiena, 
assumed  the  principal  direction  of  the  studies  of  his 
riper  years. 

This  intense  devotion  to  letters  obtained  their  natural 
reward.  Lorenzo  had  always  lamented  that  his  family 
had  no  representative  in  the  College  of  Cardinals.  All 
his  efforts,  therefore,  were  bent  towards  the  realisation 
of  this  object — the  elevation  of  Giovanni  to  the  dignity 
of  a  cardinal.  After  considerable  solicitation,  personal 
and  through  the  medium  of  his  friends,  Innocent  vin. 
listened  to  Lorenzo's  request,  and  in  1489  appointed 
Giovanni,  then  a  boy  of  thirteen,  to  a  place  in  the 
Sacred  College.  That  he  should  not  assume  the  insignia 
of  his  rank,  nor  be  received  as  a  member  of  the  Con- 
sistory for  three  years,  were  the  conditions  annexed  to 
the  honour ;  while  the  advice  was  given  that  he  should 
spend  the  interval  at  Pisa  in  theological  study. 

Though  the  anxious  father  made  several  attempts  to 
obtain  some  modification  of  the  conditions  as  to  the 
time  of  probation — for  already  the  Magnifico  felt  the 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE        205 

approach  of  the  Shadow  feared  of  man — his  efforts 
were  in  vain.  Innocent  had  already  been  blamed  too 
sharply  for  promising  to  raise  a  boy  of  thirteen  to  a 
dignity  eagerly  sought  for  by  aged  ecclesiastics,  to  dare 
to  court  new  criticism.  He  had  therefore  to  put  Lorenzo 
off  with  smooth  words,  and  Giovanni  was  not  con- 
secrated until  the  appointed  time  had  elapsed.  During 
the  interim  he  proceeded  to  Pisa,  and  devoted  himself 
to  the  study  of  theology.  In  this  branch  of  letters  his 
progress  was  as  marked  as  in  others,  so  much  so  that 
the  fame  of  it  reached  His  Holiness  in  Rome,  and  led 
him  to  remark  to  the  proud  father,  in  one  of  his  letters, 
"I  have  heard  of  his  exemplary  conduct,  and  of  the 
high  distinction  he  has  won  in  the  academic  debates. 
I  consider  him  as  my  own  son,  and  shall,  when  it  is 
least  expected,  order  his  promotion  to  be  made  public." 
The  moment  the  three  years  of  probation  had  ex- 
pired, Giovanni,  then  a  tall,  handsome  lad  of  sixteen, 
though  his  demeanour  might  well  have  suited  sixty, 
was  admitted  to  all  the  honours  of  his  rank,  the 
ceremony  of  investiture  being  performed  on  9th  March 
1492,  by  Matteo  Bosso,  the  learned  prior  of  the 
monastery  at  Fiesole.1  After  spending  a  few  days 
with  his  father,  who  was  then  very  ill  and  fast 
Hearing  his  end,2  the  boy-cardinal  set  out  for  Rome 
to  pay  his  respects  to  the  Pope.  Although  the  dying 
man  would  fain  have  retained  his  favourite  son  near 
him  during  the  short  time  remaining  to  him  on  earth, 
the  circumstance  was  characteristic  of  Lorenzo's  policy 
through  life,  namely,  to  subordinate  private  feelings 

1  Cf.  the  letter  left  by  Bosso  describing  the  ceremony,  Rccuperationcs 
Fesulanw,  epis.  ex. 

2  See  ante,  p.  168. 


206  THE  MEDICI  AND 

to  the  good  of  the  family.  Well  did  he  realise  he 
would  look  upon  his  son's  face  no  more,  yet  he  urged 
him  to  go,  and  even  playfully  chid  him  for  his  display 
of  filial  feeling  over  "  an  old  gouty  invalid." 

Messer  Giovanni  departed  from  Florence  in  the 
middle  of  March  1492 ;  on  8th  April  his  father  passed 
away,  and  the  glory  of  the  Florentine  Medici  was 
eclipsed  for  many  a  long  year.  But  before  the 
Magnifico  breathed  his  last,  he  gathered  up  the  scanty 
residuum  of  his  strength  to  indite  to  the  cardinal  a 
letter  which,  for  ripe  wisdom,  many  writers  have  con- 
sidered not  unworthy  to  rank  with  the  advice  of  Polonius 
to  Laertes.  For  keen  insight  into  the  springs  of  human 
motive,  for  wide  knowledge  of  character,  earnest  in- 
culcation of  lofty  spiritual  principles,  diversified  by  the 
precepts  of  a  practical  common-sense  morality,  the  letter 
stands  unrivalled  among  Lorenzo's  writings.  Owing 
to  the  light  it  throws  upon  the  life  of  Giovanni,  as 
well  as  for  the  insight  it  gives  into  Renaissance  ideas 
and  sympathies,  this  epistle  is  of  great  value.  It  well 
merits  quotation : — 

LORENZO  DE'  MEDICI  TO  GIOVANNI  DE'  MEDICI,  CARDINAL. 

"You,  and  all  of  us  who  are  interested  in  your  welfare, 
ought  to  esteem  ourselves  highly  favoured  by  Providence,  not 
only  for  the  many  honours  and  benefits  bestowed  on  our 
house,  but  more  particularly  for  having  conferred  upon  us, 
in  your  person,  the  greatest  dignity  we  have  ever  enjoyed. 
This  favour,  in  itself  so  important,  is  rendered  still  more  so 
by  the  circumstances  with  which  it  is  accompanied,  and 
especially  by  the  consideration  of  your  youth  and  of  our 
situation  in  the  world.  The  first  thing  that  I  would  therefore 
suggest  to  you  is,  that  you  ought  to  be  grateful  to  God,  and 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE        207 

continually  to  recollect  that  it  is  not  through  your  merits, 
your  prudence,  or  your  solicitude,  that  this  event  has  taken 
place,  but  through  His  favour,  which  you  can  only  repay  by 
a  pious,  chaste,  and  exemplary  life ;  and  that  your  obligations 
to  the  performance  of  these  duties  are  so  much  the  greater,  as 
in  your  early  years  you  have  given  some  reasonable  expectation 
that  your  riper  age  may  produce  such  fruits.  It  would  indeed 
be  highly  disgraceful,  and  as  contrary  to  your  duty  as  to  my 
hopes,  if,  at  a  time  when  others  display  a  greater  share  of 
reason  and  adopt  a  better  mode  of  life,  you  should  forget  the 
precepts  of  your  youth,  and  forsake  the  path  in  which  you 
have  hitherto  trodden.  Endeavour  therefore  to  alleviate  the 
burthen  of  your  early  dignity  by  the  regularity  of  your  life, 
and  by  your  perseverance  in  those  studies  which  are  suitable 
to  your  profession.  It  gave  me  great  satisfaction  to  learn 
that,  in  the  course  of  the  past  year,  you  had  frequently,  of 
your  own  accord,  gone  to  communion  and  confession ;  nor  do 
I  conceive  that  there  is  any  better  way  of  obtaining  the  favour 
of  heaven  than  by  habituating  yourself  to  a  performance  of 
these  and  similar  duties.  This  appears  to  me  to  be  the  most 
suitable  and  useful  advice  which,  in  the  first  instance,  I  can 
possibly  give  you. 

"  I  well  know,  that  as  you  are  now  to  reside  at  Rome,  that 
sink  of  all  iniquity,  the  difficulty  of  conducting  yourself  by 
these  admonitions  will  be  increased.  The  influence  of  example 
is  itself  prevalent ;  but  you  will  probably  meet  with  those 
who  will  particularly  endeavour  to  corrupt  and  incite  you  to 
vice ;  because,  as  you  may  yourself  perceive,  your  early  attain- 
ment to  so  great  a  dignity  is  not  observed  without  envy,  and 
those  who  could  not  prevent  you  receiving  that  honour  will 
secretly  endeavour  to  diminish  it,  by  inducing  you  to  forfeit 
the  good  estimation  of  the  public ;  thereby  precipitating  you 
into  that  gulf  into  which  they  had  themselves  fallen  ;  in 
which  attempt,  the  consideration  of  your  youth  will  give  them 
a  confidence  of  success.  To  these  difficulties  you  ought  to 


208  THE  MEDICI   AND 

oppose  yourself  with  the  greater  firmness,  as  there  is  at 
present  less  virtue  amongst  your  brethren  of  the  college.  I 
acknowledge,  indeed,  that  several  of  them  are  good  and  learned 
men,  whose  lives  are  exemplary,  and  whom  I  would  re- 
commend to  you  as  patterns  of  your  conduct.  By  emulating 
them  you  will  be  so  much  the  more  known  and  esteemed,  in 
proportion  as  your  age  and  the  peculiarity  of  your  situation 
will  distinguish  you  from  your  colleagues.  Avoid,  however, 
as  you  would  Scylla  or  Charybdis,  the  imputation  of  hypocrisy  ; 
guard  against  all  ostentation,  either  in  your  conduct  or  your 
discourse;  affect  not  austerity,  nor  even  appear  too  serious. 
This  advice  you  will,  I  hope,  in  time  understand  and  practise 
better  than  I  can  express  it. 

"  Yet  you  are  not  unacquainted  with  the  great  importance 
of  the  character  which  you  have  to  sustain,  for  you  well  know 
that  all  the  Christian  world  would  prosper  if  the  cardinals 
were  what  they  ought  to  be;  because  in  such  a  case  there 
would  always  be  a  good  Pope,  upon  which  the  tranquillity  of 
Christendom  so  materially  depends.  Endeavour,  then,  to 
render  yourself  such,  that,  if  all  the  rest  resembled  you,  we 
might  expect  this  universal  blessing.  To  give  you  particular 
directions  as  to  your  behaviour  and  conversation  would  be  a 
matter  of  no  small  difficulty,  I  shall  therefore  only  recommend 
that,  in  your  intercourse  with  the  cardinals  and  other  men  of 
rank,  your  language  be  unassuming  and  respectful,  guiding 
yourself,  however,  by  your  own  reason,  and  not  submitting  to 
be  impelled  by  the  passions  of  others,  who,  actuated  by 
improper  motives,  may  pervert  the  use  of  their  reason.  Let 
it  satisfy  your  conscience  that  your  conversation  is  without 
intentional  offence  ;  and  if,  through  impetuosity  of  temper, 
anyone  should  be  offended,  as  his  enmity  is  without  just 
cause,  so  it  will  not  be  very  lasting.  On  this  your  first  visit 
to  Eome,  it  will  however  be  more  advisable  for  you  to  listen 
to  others  than  to  speak  much  yourself. 

"You  are  now  devoted  to  God  and  the  Church;  on  which 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         209 

account  you  ought  to  aim  at  being  a  good  ecclesiastic,  and  to 
show  that  you  prefer  the  honour  and  state  of  the  Church  and 
of  the  Apostolic  See  to  every  other  consideration.  Nor,  while 
you  keep  this  in  view,  will  it  be  difficult  for  you  to  favour 
your  family  and  your  native  place.  On  the  contrary,  you 
should  be  the  link  to  bind  this  city  closer  to  the  Church,  and 
our  family  with  the  city ;  and  although  it  be  impossible  to 
foresee  what  accidents  may  happen,  yet  I  doubt  not  but  this 
may  be  done  with  equal  advantage  to  all ;  observing,  however, 
that  you  are  always  to  prefer  the  interests  of  the  Church. 

"  You  are  not  only  the  youngest  cardinal  in  the  college,  but 
the  youngest  person  that  ever  was  raised  to  that  rank ;  and 
you  ought  therefore  to  be  the  most  vigilant  and  unassuming, 
not  giving  others  occasion  to  wait  for  you,  either  in  the 
chapel,  the  consistory,  or  upon  deputations.  You  will  soon 
get  a  sufficient  insight  into  the  manners  of  your  brethren. 
With  those  of  less  respectable  character  converse  not  with  too 
much  intimacy  ;  not  merely  on  account  of  the  circumstance  in 
itself,  but  for  the  sake  of  public  opinion.  Converse  on  general 
topics  with  all.  On  public  occasions  let  your  equipage  and 
dress  be  rather  below  than  above  mediocrity.  A  handsome 
house  and  a  well-ordered  family  will  be  preferable  to  a  great 
retinue  and  a  splendid  residence.  Endeavour  to  live  with 
regularity,  and  gradually  to  bring  your  expenses  within  those 
bounds  which  in  a  new  establishment  cannot  perhaps  be 
expected.  Silk  and  jewels  are  not  suitable  for  persons  in  your 
station.  Your  taste  will  be  better  shown  in  the  acquisition 
of  a  few  elegant  remains  of  antiquity,  or  in  the  collecting  of 
handsome  books,  and  by  your  attendants  being  learned  and 
well-bred  rather  than  numerous.  Invite  others  to  your  house 
oftener  than  you  receive  invitations.  Practise  neither  too 
frequently.  Let  your  own  food  be  plain,  and  take  sufficient 
exercise,  for  those  who  wear  your  habit  are  soon  liable, 
without  great  caution,  to  contract  infirmities.  The  station  of 
a  cardinal  is  not  less  secure  than  elevated  ;  on  which  account 


210  THE  MEDICI  AND 

those  who  arrive  at  it  too  frequently  become  negligent,  con- 
ceiving that  their  object  is  attained,  and  that  they  can  preserve 
it  with  little  trouble.  This  idea  is  often  injurious  to  the  life 
and  character  of  those  who  entertain  it.  Be  attentive  there- 
fore to  your  conduct,  and  confide  in  others  too  little  rather 
than  too  much.  There  is  one  rule  which  I  would  recommend 
to  your  attention  in  preference  to  all  others :  Rise  early  in 
the  morning.  This  will  not  only  contribute  to  your  health, 
but  will  enable  you  to  arrange  and  expedite  the  business  of 
the  day ;  and  as  there  are  various  duties  incident  to  your 
station,  such  as  the  performance  of  divine  service,  studying, 
giving  audience,  etc.,  you  will  find  the  observance  of  this 
admonition  productive  of  the  greatest  utility.  Another  very 
necessary  precaution,  particularly  on  your  entrance  into  public 
life,  is  to  deliberate  every  evening  on  what  you  may  have  to 
perform  the  following  day,  that  you  may  not  be  unprepared 
for  whatever  may  happen.  With  respect  to  your  speaking  in 
the  Consistory,  it  will  be  most  becoming  for  you  at  present  to 
refer  the  matters  in  debate  to  the  judgment  of  His  Holiness, 
alleging  as  a  reason  your  own  youth  and  inexperience.  You 
will  probably  be  desired  to  intercede  for  the  favours  of  the 
Pope  on  particular  occasions.  Be  cautious,  however,  that  you 
trouble  him  not  too  often ;  for  his  temper  leads  him  to  be  most 
liberal  to  those  who  weary  him  least  with  their  solicitations. 
This  you  must  observe,  lest  you  should  give  him  offence, 
remembering  also  at  times  to  converse  with  him  on  more 
agreeable  topics ;  and  if  you  should  be  obliged  to  request  some 
kindness  from  him,  let  it  be  done  with  that  modesty  and 
humility  which  are  so  pleasing  to  his  disposition.  Farewell." 

Giovanni  seems  to  have  realised  at  once  the  responsi- 
bilities resting  on  him,  not  so  much  as  a  Prince  of  the 
Church,  but  as  the  son  of  the  great  Magnifico.  In  a 
letter  addressed  to  his  elder  brother  Piero,  who,  of 
course,  succeeded  to  the  honours  of  the  family,  he 


THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE        211 

expresses  the  hope,  alas  how  miserably  disappointed, 
"  that  in  your  conduct  to  all,  and  particularly  to  those 
around  you,  I  may  find  you  as  I  could  wish,  beneficent, 
liberal,  affable,  humane ;  by  which  qualities  there  is 
nothing  but  may  be  obtained,  nothing  but  may  be  pre- 
served. Think  not  I  mention  this  from  any  doubt  that 
I  entertain  of  thee,  but  because  I  esteem  it  my  duty. 
Many  things  strengthen  and  console  me :  the  concourse 
of  people  that  surround  our  house  with  lamentations, 
the  sad  and  sorrowful  appearance  of  the  whole  city,  the 
public  mourning  and  other  similar  circumstances — these 
in  a  great  degree  alleviate  my  grief :  what  a  father  have 
we  lost,  I  again  exclaim,  but  his  example  lives  for  us  I"1 
Only  thirty  months  were  to  elapse  before  both  Piero 
and  Giovanni  would  be  driven  with  contumely  from 
that  Florence  where  now  their  name  was  one  to  con- 
jure with,  and  the  priceless  Renaissance  treasures  of 
the  Palazzo  Medici — treasures  on  which  Cosimo  and 
Lorenzo  had  spent  sums  almost  incredible — were  scat- 
tered in  an  hour  by  the  French  soldiery  of  Charles  vni., 
assisted  by  the  Florentines  themselves.  This  insult 
turned  Giovanni's  love  for  his  native  place  into  dislike. 
By  a  flash  of  intuition  he  realised  that  the  days  of 
personal  popularity  as  the  basis  of  his  family's  rule 
had  passed  for  ever.  When  the  Medici  recovered  their 
place  in  Florence,  it  was  as  the  recognised  rulers  of  the 
State,  with  an  official  position  no  longer  nebulously 
undefined,  but  broad-based  upon  the  territorial  dignity 
first  of  Dukes  of  Florence,  and  finally  of  Grand 
Dukes  of  Tuscany. 

1  Many  copies  of  this  letter  exist,  and  nearly  all  of  them  differ  in 
some  details  from  the  others.  Sec  the  collection  still  preserved  in 
the  Palazzo  Vecchio  in  Florence. 


212  THE  MEDICI   AND 

These  changes  have  little  connection  with  our  sketch 
of  the  relation  of  the  Medici  to  the  Renaissance. 
Giovanni's  labours  as  a  scholar  were  no  longer  centred 
in  Florence.  Rome  was  his  home,  and  although  he 
never  hesitated  to  leave  it  and  reside  in  Florence  for  a 
time,  when  he  thought  that  thereby  he  could  promote 
the  interests  of  his  house,  he  showed  his  feelings  on 
more  than  one  occasion  to  be  those  of  bitter  dislike  to 
the  Florentines,  for  their  speedy  forgetfulness  of  all 
Cosimo  and  Lorenzo  had  done  for  them.1 

From  1492,  when  Cardinal  de'  Medici  took  up  his 
abode  in  Rome,  until  1513,  when  he  was  elevated  to 
the  Chair  of  St.  Peter,  his  relations  were  with  the 
Roman,  rather  than  with  the  Florentine  scholars, 
though  on  all  his  visits  to  Valdarno  he  was  exceed- 
ingly scrupulous  to  show  respect  to  the  local  literati. 
They  were,  however,  sadly  reduced  both  in  numbers 
and  reputation.  Poliziano  had  died  within  two  years 
of  his  patron  Lorenzo,  so  had  Pico  della  Mirandola  and 
Ermolao  Barbaro.  Landino  indeed  remained,  but  he 
was  aged  and  infirm,  and  the  new  type  of  scholar, 
which  German  Humanism  was  creating,  was  as  yet  a 
mere  philologist,  with  comparatively  little  sympathy 
for  the  literary  beauties  of  the  classics. 

In  Rome  several  scholars  of  repute  still  remained, 
having  survived  the  persecution  of  Paul  n.,  whose 
jealousy  of  the  Roman  Academy  caused  him  to  subject 
its  members  to  prison  or  the  rack,  in  his  desire  to  dis- 
cover some  political  meaning  in  their  meetings.  But, 
under  Alexander  VI.,  letters,  although  not  fostered,  as 
might  have  been  expected,  were  not  retarded  by  any 
foolish  prejudice  on  the  part  of  the  pontiff.  As  the 
1  Of.  Fabr.  m  Vita  Leon  X.,  121. 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE        213 

Cardinal  de'  Medici  had  opposed  Borgia's  election,  he 
judged  it  prudent  to  withdraw  to  Florence  for  a  time, 
and  while  there  had  the  mortification  inflicted  on  him 
to  which  reference  has  already  been  made. 

After  his  expulsion  from  his  native  city,  Giovanni 
resided  for  a  time  in  various  places,  devoting  himself 
to  study  in  the  hope  of  forgetting  his  troubles.  As  the 
situation  did  not  change  for  the  better,  and  as  the 
three  several  attempts  made  by  the  Medici  to  repossess 
themselves  of  Florence,  were  each  time  defeated  with 
additional  exasperation  excited  in  the  minds  of  the 
citizens,  Giovanni,  in  1500,  determined  to  travel  through- 
out some  parts  of  Europe  in  company  with  a  party  of 
friends.  This  design  he  carried  into  effect,  his  cousin 
Giulio  de'  Medici  (afterwards  Clement  VII.)  and  ten 
others  comprising  the  company.  Discarding  the  in- 
signia of  their  rank,  and  equipping  themselves  in  a 
uniform  manner,  they  passed  through  the  States  of 
Venice  and  Milan,  visited  most  of  the  principal  cities 
in  Germany,  "each  assuming"  (as  Roscoe  says1)  "in 
turn  the  command  of  the  troop,  and  partaking  of  all 
amusements  afforded  by  continual  change  of  place  and 
the  various  manners  of  the  inhabitants." 

From  Germany  they  proceeded  to  Flanders,  and  in- 
tended to  have  passed  over  into  England,  but  were 
deterred  by  the  stormy  weather  which  prevailed. 
They  therefore  proceeded  to  France,  journeying  by 
Rouen  to  Marseilles,  where  they  took  ship  for  Genoa, 
arriving  there  early  in  1502.  From  the  last-named 
place  they  travelled  to  Savona,  where  they  had  the 
satisfaction  of  meeting  the  deadly  enemy  of  Alex- 
ander vi.,  Cardinal  Giuliano  della  Rovere,  who, 
1  Life  and  Pontificate  of  Leo  X.,  vol.  i.  p.  165  (Bolm's  edition). 


214  THE  MEDICI   AND 

like  themselves,  had  been  obliged  to  leave  Rome  to 
escape  the  enmity  of  the  pontiff.  Cardinal  Rovere 
(after  Julius  II.)  was  always  friendly  to  the  Medici, 
and  the  meeting  of  the  three  was  productive  of  many 
momentous  consequences  in  the  near  future.  It  is  a 
curious  fact  that  the  three  friends  who  sat  with  each 
other  at  that  inn  table  in  Savona,  all  attained  the  tiara 
— Rovere  as  Julius  n.,  Giovanni  as  Leo  x.,  Giuliano  de' 
Medici  as  Clement  VII. 

To  his  enforced  tour  throughout  Western  Europe, 
Cardinal  Giovanni  owed  much.  It  broadened  his  sym- 
pathies with  respect  to  human  interests  diverse  from 
his  own,  it  revealed  to  him  new  phases  of  development 
in  Renaissance  culture,  for  Germany  was  now  rapidly 
overtaking  Italy  in  that  Lampadephoria  or  torch  race 
of  culture  among  the  nations.  Soon  letters  would  find 
their  chief  home  amid  Transalpine  rather  than  amid 
Cisalpine  scenes.  Reuchlin  and  the  band  of  friends 
around  him  were  even  then  beginning  to  render 
German  scholarship  that  synonym  for  accuracy  and 
profundity  of  learning  which  it  has  retained  ever 
since.  Erasmus  also  was  at  this  early  time  making 
his  influence  felt  in  Western  letters.  His  Adagia  had 
been  published  in  1500,  and  revealed  to  the  world  that 
among  the  so-called  barbarians  there  were  scholars 
equal  to  Italy's  best  in  attainments,  and,  in  this  case  at 
any  rate,  superior  to  them  in  insight  into  the  spirit  of 
the  classic  authors.  To  Giovanni,  taught  to  believe  in 
Rome  at  least,  though  his  father  ever  set  his  face 
against  the  doctrine, — that  nothing  good  could  emanate 
elsewhere  than  from  Italy, — the  revelation  came  almost 
as  a  shock.  In  one  of  his  letters  to  his  brother,  he 
says :  "  Can  it  be  possible !  We  are  being  beaten  in 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE        215 

learning  by  those  we  deemed  barbarians,  and  beaten, 
too,  on  ground  we  reckoned  our  own  ? " l  The  experi- 
ence stimulated  him  to  fresh  efforts,  to  redeem  the 
reproach  already  being  cast  upon  Italian  culture,  that 
it  was  a  thing  of  the  past. 

From  this  period  forward  Giovanni's  interest  in 
letters  was  not  alone  displayed  in  prosecuting  his  own 
literary  pursuits.  He  became  a  munificent  patron  of 
learning,  and  like  his  father  esteemed  the  company  of 
scholars  more  enjoyable  than  that  of  any  other  class  of 
men.  To  his  house  in  the  Forum  Agonale z  of  Rome, 
he  welcomed  all  those  members  of  the  Roman  Academy 
who  had  survived  the  persecution  of  Paul  II.  Among 
these  were  Angelo  Colocci,  Paolo  Cortese,  Jacopo 
Sadoleto,  the  younger  Beroaldo,  Alessandro  Farnese, 
and  others.  These  scholars  met  at  stated  times  in  their 
reconstituted  academy,  elected  a  president,  and  engaged 
in  discussions  on  literary  subjects.  Granted  that  the 
moral  corruption  of  Rome  at  this  period  was,  as 
Symonds  says,  almost  past  belief,  it  was  a  corruption 
at  any  rate  veiled,  as  regards  its  grosser  attributes,  by 
a  culture  as  delicate  and  dazzling  as  it  was  widely 
diffused. 

As  far  as  his  means  went,  he  sought  to  encourage 
genius  in  its  development,  and  more  than  one  of  the 
great  Roman  scholars  acknowledge  their  indebtedness 
to  the  cultured  Cardinal  de'  Medici.  Pietro  Bembo,  the 
great  Latin  elegiac  poet  of  the  Renaissance  epoch,  in  a 
letter  to  Bernardo  da  Bibiena,  the  domestic  secretary 
of  the  cardinal,  says :  "  You  will  give  my  lord  cardinal 

1  Jovius,  Vila  Leonis  X. 

2  Now  called  Piazza  Navona.     See   "Rome"  in  Dent's  "Medieval 
Towns  Series." 


216  THE  MEDICI  AND 

the  thanks  I  so  amply  owe  him  for  the  kindly  and 
courteous  interest  he  takes  in  my  affairs " ; *  while  in 
his  letters  to  Galeotto  della  Rovere  he  repeatedly  ac- 
knowledges the  obligations  under  which  he  and  other 
scholars  lay  to  Giovanni.  The  Pope  (Alexander  vi.) 
having  realised  the  mistake  he  had  made  in  making 
the  cardinal  his  enemy,  had  sent  him  a  message  invit- 
ing him  to  return  to  Rome.  Though  many  of  his 
friends,  and  particularly  Della  Rovere,  counselled  Gio- 
vanni against  compliance,  urging  that  the  Borgias  only 
wished  to  get  him  into  their  power,  that  they  might 
put  him  to  death,  Giovanni  thought  differently.  He 
therefore  repaired  to  Rome  in  1502,  and  lived  there  on 
friendly  terms  with  the  Pope  until  the  death  of  the 
latter  in  August  1503. 

That  the  cardinal  was  committed  to  the  cause  of  his 
friend  Della  Rovere,  as  the  next  occupant  of  St.  Peter's 
Chair,  is  exceedingly  probable.  But  the  claims  of 
Francesco  Piccolomini,  Cardinal  of  Siena,  the  nephew 
of  Pius  II.  (^Eneas  Sylvius)  were  too  strong  to  be 
passed  over.  He  was  accordingly  elected  by  the  Sacred 
College,  but  only  held  the  office  for  twenty-six  days, 
when  he  died,  not  without  grave  suspicions  of  poison 
having  been  employed  to  remove  him.  Cardinal  della 
Rovere  was  now  the  principal  candidate,  and  Giovanni 
exerted  himself  to  secure  his  election.  In  this  he  was 
successful,  and  from  this  date,  29th  October  1503,  when 
Rovere,  under  the  title  of  Julius  II.,  commenced  his 
pontificate,  may  be  reckoned  the  rapid  improvement  in 
the  fortunes  of  Cardinal  Giovanni. 

For  his  early  friend,  Julius  entertained  the  warmest 
sentiments  both  of  affection  and  of  gratitude.  Though 
1  Bembo,  Opcr.  III.,  191. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE        217 

on  many  points  of  policy  they  differed,  Giovanni  hence- 
forward became  one  of  the  most  intimate  counsellors 
of  the  Pope,  and  despite  his  comparative  youth  one 
of  the  most  trusted.1  From  1503  to  1512,  when  he 
was  called  upon  to  superintend  the  operations  having 
for  their  end  the  restoration  of  the  Medici  to  the 
chief  power  in  Florence,  Giovanni  either  remained 
in  Rome  transacting  the  private  and  public  business 
of  the  Papacy  intrusted  to  him  by  the  pontiff,  or 
accompanied  him  in  his  campaigns,  against  the  Bag- 
lioni  and  Bentivogli,  and  later  against  the  Venetians, 
the  French,  and  other  enemies.  So  complete  was  the 
confidence  which  Julius  placed  in  the  cardinal  that 
he  considered  him  the  most  fitting  individual  to  direct 
the  campaign  initiated  by  the  Pope,  the  Venetians,  and 
the  King  of  Aragon  for  the  purpose  of  expelling  the 
troops  of  Louis  xn.  from  Italy.  Under  the  title, 
therefore,  of  "Legate  of  Bologna,"  the  supreme  com- 
mand of  the  papal  troops  was  intrusted  to  him,  the 
well-known  soldier  Marc-Antonio  Colonna,  acting  as 

'  o 

his  lieutenant. 

During  his  stay  in  Rome  he  had  shown  great  interest 
in  the  development  of  Italian  education,  which  he 
insisted  ought  to  be  based  on  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  classics.  In  as  far  as  he  was  able  he  assisted 
in  the  establishment  of  schools,2  a  line  of  charitable 
benevolence  which  he  was  to  develop  still  more 
extensively  when  he  ascended  the  Chair  of  St.  Peter. 
His  generosity  in  this  respect  while  he  was  a  cardinal 

1  Guicciardini,  Storia  d' Italic,  xi.;  Jovius  in  V'dii  Leon  X.,   p.  71; 
Ammirato,  Ritratto  di  Leone  X.,  p.  69. 

2  See  letter  from  Gregorio  Cortese  to  the  cardinal  published  iu  Jovius, 
also  letters  from  Bembo  inserted  in  his  works. 


2i8  THE  MEDICI   AND 

is  all  the  more  praiseworthy,  inasmuch  as  he  was 
often  obliged  to  practise  severe  economy  as  regards 
his  own  wants,  in  order  that  his  pledges  to 
the  cause  of  education  might  be  redeemed.  For 
in  the  attempts  which  the  family  made  to  achieve 
their  restoration  to  Florence,  their  resources,  and 
especially  those  of  the  cardinal,  had  been  exhausted. 
So  much  was  this  the  case  that  Giovanni  found  no 
little  difficulty  in  supporting  the  dignity  of  his  rank, 
for  which  his  ecclesiastic  revenues  were  quite  in- 
adequate. To  the  utmost  of  his  power,  as  Roscoe 
says,  he  struggled  with  these  humiliating  circum- 
stances. The  liberality  of  his  disposition  too  often 
exceeded  the  extent  of  his  finances,  and  a  splendid 
entertainment  was  at  times  deranged  by  the  want 
of  some  essential  but  unattainable  article.  .  .  .  While 
on  the  one  hand  he  was  unwilling  to  detract  from 
that  character  of  liberality  and  munificence  which 
was  suitable  to  his  rank  and  to  the  high  expecta- 
tions which  he  continued  to  entertain ;  on  the  other 
hand,  he  dreaded  the  disgrace  of  being  wanting  in 
the  strict  discharge  of  his  pecuniary  engagements. 
He  carefully  avoided,  however,  giving,  even  in  the 
lowest  ebb  of  his  fortunes,  the  slightest  indications 
of  despondency.1 

While  he  was  directing  the  course  of  the  campaign 
against  the  brilliant  Gaston  de  Foix,  the  general  of 
Louis  xii.,  the  desperate  and  sanguinary  battle  of 
Ravenna  was  fought,  which,  after  varying  fortunes, 
was  decided  by  the  total  defeat  of  the  Papal  and 
Spanish  troops.  Largely  to  the  incapacity  of  the 
Spanish  general,  Cardona,  was  this  disaster  due.  He 
1  Roscoe's  Leo  the  Tenth,  vol.  i.  chap.  vii. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE        219 

insisted  on  a  course  of  action  which  Cardinal  de' 
Medici,  civilian  though  he  was,  could  see  was  fore- 
doomed to  failure.  The  bravery  of  the  Spanish 
troops,  however,  left  the  result  long  doubtful,  but 
a  final  furious  assault  by  Gaston  de  Foix  at  the 
head  of  his  reserves  drove  the  allied  troops  in  rout 
from  the  field,  leaving  the  Cardinal  de'  Medici  and 
others  prisoners  in  the  hands  of  the  victors.  The 
success,  however,  was  dearly  bought  by  the  death  of 
Gaston  de  Foix,  undoubtedly  the  greatest  military 
genius  in  the  Europe  of  his  age,  and  whose  untimely 
end,  at  the  age  of  twenty-four,  was  deplored  by  both 
sides. 

Cardinal  Giovanni  was  not  long  a  prisoner.  The 
French  cause  in  Italy  was  already  doomed,  and  those 
to  whose  custody  he  was  committed  were  not  unwilling 
to  secure  a  friend  at  Court,  in  view  of  a  prospective 
reconciliation  with  the  Papacy,  by  conniving  at  the 
popular  churchman's  escape.  He  exercised  a  mysteri- 
ous fascination  over  all,  enemies  as  well  as  friends, 
and  strongly  entrenched  in  obstinate  resolution  must 
he  have  been  who  could  long  resist  the  blandish- 
ments he  lavished  upon  all  who  could  help  him.  In 
Giovanni  were  united  Cosimo's  iron  determination, 
Lorenzo's  political  sagacity,  Piero's  charm  of  manner, 
and  his  uncle  Giuliano's  ready  sympathy  with  all 
sorts  and  conditions  of  men.  To  this  rare  com- 
bination of  qualities  Giovanni  de'  Medici  owed  that 
acknowledged  superiority  over  his  fellows  which  even 
from  the  first  his  contemporaries  seemed  willing  to 
concede.  "  Mark  my  words,"  said  Innocent  VIII.  to 
one  of  his  cardinals,  "  for  I  shall  not  be  here  to  note 
their  fulfilment,  that  young  man  will  yet  become 


220  THE  MEDICI   AND 

one  of  the  ablest  Popes  that  has  occupied  the  Chair 
of  St.  Peter." 

The  cardinal,  after  experiencing  as  many  hairbreadth 
escapes  and  marvellous  adventures  as  would  furnish 
a  popular  novel-writer  with  matter  for  the  most 
thrilling  of  romances,  managed  to  make  good  his 
deliverance.  No  sooner  had  he  returned  to  Rome, 
however,  and  received  the  congratulations  of  the  Pope 
and  Sacred  College  on  having  recovered  his  liberty, 
which  a  happy  accident  had  achieved  when  the 
thunders  of  the  Holy  Father  had  failed,  than  Julius 
intimated  to  him  that  he  was  determined  to  restore 
the  Medici  family  to  their  former  position  in  Florence. 
This  time,  however,  in  place  of  being  the  uncrowned 
kings  of  Valdarno,  Julius  was  resolved  that  they 
should  be  the  titular  rulers  of  Tuscany,  and  thus  once 
for  all  effectually  destroy  the  influence  which  France 
exercised  in  Italian  affairs.  In  August  1512,  the 
Spanish  forces  under  Cardona,  accompanied  by  the 
Papal  troops  and  the  Cardinal  de'  Medici,  whose  powers 
were  defined  under  his  commission,  to  act  as  "  legate 
of  Tuscany,"  appeared  before  Florence. 

The  campaign  was  of  brief  duration.  On  the  last 
day  of  the  same  month  the  Medici  re-entered  Florence 
— their  exile  at  an  end.  Pope  Julius  insisted  that 
Cardinal  Giovanni  should  personally  assume  the  govern- 
ment of  the  city.  To  this  the  latter  assented,  choosing 
his  brother  Giuliano  as  his  viceroy,  and  adopting,  as 
his  motto,  a  line  which,  although  taken  from  Scripture, 
was  eminently  significant  of  the  tight  hold  the  Medici 
intended  to  keep  on  the  territory,  "  Jugum  meum  suave 
est  et  onus  meum  leve — My  yoke  is  easy  and  my 
burthen  is  light."  The  yoke  then  imposed  was  never 


THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         221 

to  be  broken  for  any  length  of  time  until  the  year 
1735,1  and  then  only  by  the  death  of  the  reigning 
Grand  Duke,  Gastone,  without  issue. 

No  sooner  was  Cardinal  Giovanni  firmly  established 
in  the  seat  of  his  ancestors  than  he  reverted  to  their 
policy,  namely,  to  beguile  the  mind  of  the  people  from 
troubling  themselves  with  the  affairs  of  government,  by 
seducing  them  into  the  pursuit  of  pleasure.  The  Floren- 
tines were  weary  of  warfare  and  of  unsettled  political 
conditions.  They  had  missed  the  quiet  prosperity  of  the 
Medicean  rule,  with  its  grand  spectacular  entertainments 
and  fetes.  The  epoch  of  Savonarola  and  the  Piagnoni, 
followed  by  that  of  Pietro  Soderini,  who,  for  preserving 
the  liberties  of  the  city  from  the  attacks  of  Caesar 
Borgia,  had  been  appointed  Gonfaloniere  for  life,  had 
been  stormy  and  tempestuous.  The  fickle  burghers 
sighed  for  the  restfulness  of  the  Medicean  rule,  slavery 
though  it  might  be  termed.  No  sooner,  therefore,  had 
Soderini  been  deposed  and  the  Medici  reinstated,  than 
the  fickle  Florentines  settled  down  to  the  enjoyment 
of  the  plays  and  spectacles,  which  the  sagacious  car- 
dinal provided,  with  a  gusto  which  unmistakably 
manifested  on  which  side  their  personal  preference  lay. 

The  cardinal  and  his  brother  Giuliano  were  busy 
therefore  in  restoring  the  customs  of  the  old  regime, 
and  that  cultured  patronage  of  letters  and  the  arts, 
which  had  been  so  carefully  exercised  by  Lorenzo 
the  Magnificent,  when  Giovanni  had  to  depart  with 
the  utmost  haste  to  Rome,  leaving  his  brother  to  carry 
out  the  work  on  which  they  were  engaged.  On  the 

1  The  recovery  of  Florentine  freedom  in  1527  was  only  temporary,  a 
brief  blaze  of  the  old  patriotism  and  courage  in  Carducci  and  Francesco 
Ferruccio. 


222  THE  MEDICI   AND 

21st  day  of  February  1513,  Pope  Julius  II.  passed 
away,  defiant  and  tiger-like  to  the  last.  When  next 
Giovanni  Cardinal  de'  Medici  visited  Florence,  it  was 
as  the  supreme  pontiff,  Leo  x.,  the  221st  occupant  of 
the  "  Chair  of  the  Fisherman,"  and  the  greatest  of 
the  Humanist  Popes. 

SECTION  2. — Leo's  Pontificate,  1513-1521 
POPE— Leo  x.,  1513 

The  election  of  the  Cardinal  de'  Medici  to  the  Papacy 
was  in  the  end  all  but  unanimous.  At  the  outset,  and 
before  his  arrival — for  he  did  not  enter  the  Conclave 
until  the  third  day — some  support  had  been  given 
to  the  Cardinal  Alborese.  No  sooner,  however,  did 
Giovanni  appear  in  the  Consistory,  and  show  that  he 
had  obtained  the  adhesion  of  the  powerful  Raffaello 
Riario,  nephew  of  Sixtus  IV.,  than  the  mind  of  the 
assembly  gradually  veered  round  to  the  Medicean  can- 
didate. Although  doubtless  this  turn  of  affairs  to  a 
conclusion  so  favourable  to  his  interests  was  greatly 
owing  to  Giovanni's  secretary  and  conclavist,  Bernardo 
da  Bibiena,  who  won  over  Cardinal  Soderini,  the 
brother  of  the  late  Gonfaloniere  of  Florence,  the  theory 
is  at  least  not  improbable,  that  the  memory  of  Lorenzo 
de'  Medici's  services  to  Italy,  both  as  a  politician  and  a 
patron  of  letters,  united  to  the  recognised  character  of 
this,  the  Magnifico's  son,  as  a  friend  of  Renaissance 
learning,  also  contributed  to  bring  about  the  result. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  Roscoe  is  right  when  he  says  that 
it  was  "  agreed  on  all  hands  that  his  elevation  was  not 
disgraced  by  that  shameless  traffic  and  open  prostitu- 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE        223 

tion  of  the  favours  and  emoluments  of  the  Church, 
which  had  been  so  usual  on  such  occasions." l  To  this 
might  be  added  Guicciardini's  testimony — 

"  Almost  all  Christendom  was  highly  delighted  with  this 
election,  anticipating  in  Pope  Leo  a  pontiff  of  rare  merit,  to 
whom  all  were  inclined  by  reason  of  his  father's  virtues,  and 
of  his  own  noted  goodness  of  heart  and  nobleness  of  spirit, 
his  chastity  and  excellence  of  conduct ;  and  it  was  hoped,  too, 
that  after  his  father's  example,  he  would  show  himself  a 
patron  of  learning  and  of  learned  men.  And  these  favourable 
expectations  were  strengthened  by  the  circumstance  that  his 
election  had  been  effected  without  any  simony  or  corrup- 
tion."2 

The  procession  of  each  new  pontiff  to  take  possession 
of  the  Lateran  See  was  usually  made  the  occasion  of 
rejoicings  by  the  citizens  of  Rome.  Giovanni's — or 
as  we  must  in  future  designate  him — Leo's  personal 
popularity  being  so  great,  the  celebration  of  the  rite 
was  accompanied  by  signs  of  satisfaction  of  so  general 
a  character,  that  they  were  long  regarded  as  the  most 
brilliant  fetes  of  the  kind  ever  held  in  the  "  Eternal 
City."  One  and  all  the  citizens  united  to  do  honour  to 
the  man  whose  accession  to  the  Papacy  was  regarded 
as  favourable  to  the  cause  alike  of  religion  and  of 
letters. 

By  the  Humanists  his  election  was  hailed  with  a 
joy  that  had  not  been  manifested  since  the  days  of 
Nicholas  V.  and  Pius  II.  The  glamour  cast  by  the 
Medici  over  all  and  sundry,  and  the  recollection  of  all 
Lorenzo  il  Magnifico  had  done  for  the  Renaissance,  led 

1  Roscoe,  Life  and  Pontificate  of  Leo  X.,  vol   i.  p.  291. 

2  Guicciardini,  xi.  v.  ii.  32.     Cf.  also  Jovius  and  Gregorovius. 


224  THE  MEDICI  AND 

the  scholars  of  Italy  to  predict  for  Leo  a  pontificate  as 
brilliant  as  any  in  the  annals  of  the  Papacy.  Nor 
were  they  disappointed  either  in  their  expectations  or 
their  predictions.  The  epoch  of  Leo  x.  constituted  the 
autumnal  glory  of  Renaissance  culture,  as  that  of 
Lorenzo  was  its  midsummer  meridian.1  Literature,  the 
arts,  philosophy,  science,  all  experienced  the  beneficial 
influence  of  his  patronage.  "  If  I  am  the  Holy  Father," 
he  said,  "I  must  show  my  paternal  interest  in  all 
varieties  of  honest  human  effort."2 

His  Renaissance  sympathies  were  indicated  even 
before  he  left  the  consistory.  That  the  newly  created 
pontiff  should  appoint  his  papal  secretaries  immediately 
after  the  public  announcement  of  his  name  and  title  had 
been  made,  had  come  to  be  a  custom  in  the  conclave. 
Considerable  interest  was  felt,  therefore,  among1  the 

7  O 

cardinals  as  to  the  men  of  Leo's  choice.  A  murmur  of 
approbation  broke  from  the  consistory  when  the  names 
of  Pietro  Bembo  and  Jacopo  Sadoleto,  the  two  most 
learned  Humanists  of  their  age,  were  proclaimed  as 
his  nominees  for  the  offices.  These  first  appointments 
were  the  straws  on  the  stream  of  papal  policy,  showing 
the  direction  in  which  the  current  of  Leo's  inclinations 
were  destined  to  flow.  "  Godiamoci  il  Papato,  poiche 
Dio  ce  I'ha  dato — Let  us  enjoy  the  Papacy  since  God 
has  given  it  to  us,"  was  his  remark  to  his  brother  after 
their  return  from  the  brilliant  function  of  the  Lateran ; 
and  the  epigram,  whose  point  is  lost  by  translation,  is 
exquisitely  typical  of  the  character  of  his  policy. 
Henceforward  the  Papacy,  according  to  his  ideal,  was 
not  only  to  stand  out  as  the  centre  of  the  spiritual  life 
of  the  world,  but  was  to  become  that  fountain-head 
1  Fabronius,  in  Vita  Leon  X.  2  Jortin's  Life  of  Erasmus. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE        225 

of  Humanism,  whence  the  stream  of  stimulus  towards 
the  acquisition  of  an  ever-broadening  culture  and  an 
ever-deepening  intellectual  development,  was  to  emanate 
for  the  benefit  of  Europe. 

Rome  as  a  city  was  prepared  to  second  the  efforts  of 
the  pontiff.  The  assurance  that  once  more  a  Humanist 
Pope  sat  in  the  Chair  of  St.  Peter  was  sufficient  to 
cause  every  scholar  with  any  pretensions  to  eminence 
to  endeavour  to  bring  himself  and  his  work  under  the 
notice  of  this  munificent  patron.  From  all  parts  of 
Italy  men  of  letters  flocked  to  Rome.  "  As  the 
magnet  attracteth  iron,  so  doth  Pope  Leo  the  Human- 
ists," said  Agostino  Chigi,  the  witty  and  wealthy 
Siennese  banker.  Nor  was  the  remark  an  exaggera- 
tion. 

The  historic  events  which  synchronised  with  Leo's 
pontificate  were  neither  so  numerous  nor  of  such 
moment  as  those  occurring  during  the  term  of  Sixtus 
iv.  or  Alexander  vi.,  with  one  exception — the  Reforma- 
tion. Leo  has  had  many  biographers.  By  these  his 
career  has  been  carefully  sketched,  and  the  part  he 
played  in  the  great  Reformation  struggle  examined  and 
criticised  from  very  diverse  points  of  view.  By  many 
of  them,  however,  the  secret  of  Leo's  attitude  towards 
Luther  and  the  new  movement  has  been  misunderstood. 
He  was  at  heart  antagonistic  to  neither.  He  was  simply 
indifferent,  because,  like  every  Italian  of  that  epoch,  he 
had  a  supreme  contempt  for  "  barbarian  Germany." 
He  regarded  the  Reformation  as  merely  an  offshoot  of 
German  Humanism,  which  to  him  was  a  synonym  for 
all  that  was  barbaric.  He  treated  it,  in  fact,  as  a 
negligeable  quantity.  From  this  cause,  not  from 
antagonism — although  doubtless  that  feeling  was 


226  THE  MEDICI   AND 

superinduced  later,  when  his  comfort  began  to  be 
disturbed  by  the  German  schism — resulted  Leo's  atti- 
tude towards  the  Reformation.  No  student  of  the 
period,  therefore,  can  present  its  historic  or  its  liter- 
ary facts  and  forces  in  their  exact  perspective  and 
assign  to  them  their  relative  proportion,  who  does  not 
take  account  of  the  part  Humanism  played  during  the 
Reformation  era. 

Leo  was  a  Humanist  with  a  heart  untouched  by  the 
higher  influences  and  emotions  of  religion,  called  to 
deal  with  a  purely  spiritual  problem.  Naturally,  he 
sought  to  shirk  meddling  with  a  matter  whereof  he 
realised  he  knew  little,  and  about  which,  like  Gallic, 
he  cared  less.  He  certainly  would  have  preferred  to 
leave  "  Brother  Martin,"  as  he  called  him,  severely  alone 
— whose  great  ability,  with  that  tolerant  bonhomie 
which  always  distinguished  him,  Leo  was  quite  willing 
to  admit l — provided  the  Reformer  agreed  to  confine 
his  philippics  to  hair-splitting  points  of  scholastic 
doctrine.2  Leo  did  not  desire  any  war  of  words  that 
would  distract  attention  from  that  progressive  develop- 
ment of  culture  in  which  all  his  interest  was  centred. 
In  addition  to  this,  Leo  and  his  cardinals  at  the  outset 
of  the  Reformation,  and  when  they  still  regarded  it  as 
a  mere  wrangle  over  words  among  two  differing  groups 
of  German  scholars,  felt  themselves  unable  to  adjudicate 
on  the  dispute,  even  had  they  cherished  any  inclination 
so  to  do.  Italian  and  German  Humanism  differed  as 

1  Luther,  by  Professor  Henry  Eyster  Jacobs,  D.D.,  LL.D.  ("Heroes 
of  the  Reformation  Series  "),  p.  90  ;  see  also  a  very  able  study  of  the 
relation  of  Luther  and  Leo  in  the  volume  on  Luther  contributed  by 
the    Rev.   Professor    Lindsay,  D.D.,  to   the  "World's   Epoch-Makers 
Series." 

2  Cf.  Leo's  letter  to  the  General  of  the  Augustinian  Order. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE        227 

much  in  essence  as  in  degree  of  scholarship.  In  Italy 
the  works  of  the  ancients  were  studied  for  the  sciences 
they  contained  and  for  the  literary  beauties  wherewith 
they  were  replete ;  in  Germany,  largely  for  the  aid 
they  offered  towards  the  study  of  philosophy  and 
theology,  as  well  as  to  the  elucidation  of  the  text  of 
the  Word  of  God.  Italian  Humanism  therefore  was 
more  ornamental,  German  more  utilitarian,  in  their 
respective  aims. 

Leo,  as  we  have  said,  was  simply  an  Italian  Humanist, 
with  complications  thrust  upon  him  at  a  critical  and 
crucial  historic  juncture  with  which  by  training  as 
well  as  temperament  he  was  utterly  unfitted  to  cope. 
Despite  all  the  liberty  of  sentiment  he  had  derived 
from  his  tour  throughout  Europe,  his  early  environment 
cribbed  and  confined  his  sympathies.  The  healthy 
growth  and  expansion  of  his  intellectual  life  had  been 
pot-bound  by  the  prejudices  of  that  early  environment. 
Had  his  marvellously  liberal-minded  father  lived  thirty 
years  longer — that  is,  until  he  had  reached  his  seventy- 
second  year — he  would  have  widened  the  ideas  of 
Italian  scholars  respecting  the  work  of  their  trans- 
alpine fellow-Humanists.  But  to  Leo,  as  to  nine  out  of 
every  ten  of  the  literati  of  Italy,  a  German  scholar  was 
a  barbarian,  and  German  scholarship  a  barbarous  com- 
pound of  error  and  ignorance.  Only  when  Reuchlin, 
Erasmus,  Pirckheimer,  Mutianus  Rufus,  Crotus  Rubi- 
anus,  Johann  Csesarius,  Hermann  von  Busch,  Conrad 
Celtes,  and  Eobanus  Hessus,  revealed  to  the  Italians, 
depths  of  spiritual  meaning  in  the  classics,  which  all 
the  Roman,  Florentine,  and  Neapolitan  scholars  had 
failed  to  extract  therefrom,  did  the  Cisalpine  Humanists 
admit  that  even  among  barbarians  "there  might  be 


228  THE  MEDICI  AND 

culture  of  a  kind."  l  Professor  C.  H.  Herford,  in  that 
admirable  volume  of  his  which  no  student  who  would 
know  this  period  thoroughly  can  afford  to  ignore,  The 
Literary  Relations  of  England  and  Germany  in  the 
Sixteenth  Century,  sums  up  the  case  of  "barbarian 
Germany  "  in  the  following  pregnant  words  : — 

"If  the  extraordinarily  gifted  yet  relatively  barbarous 
Germany  of  the  sixteenth  century  was  in  pure  literature  of 
any  moment  for  its  neighbours,  it  was  chiefly  so  in  so  far  as 
it  made  literary  capital  of  its  barbarism.  Its  moods  of  ideal 
aspiration,  its  laborious  efforts  to  honour  virtue  and  nobility, 
its  pictures  of  pure  women  and  heroic  patriots  counted  for 
little.  .  .  .  Even  the  Humanists  of  Germany,  proficients 
though  they  were  in  the  graces  of  Humanist  style,  commonly 
arrived  at  European  fame,  if  at  all,  by  some  other  channel. 
Had  Horace,  like  Friscblein's  Cicero,  revisited  the  upper  world, 
Northern  Europe  could  have  shown  him  no  Latin  lyrics  so 
graceful  and  sparkling  as  those  of  Celtes  and  Hessus;  but 
Celtes  and  Hessus  remained  provincial  stars  when  Markolf 
and  Ulenspiegel  and  the  Ship  of  Fools  had  the  ear  of  Europe ; 
and  all  the  fascinating  brilliancy  of  Hutten  did  not  save  him 
from  being  celebrated  abroad  as  the  advocate  of  an  unedifying 
drug.  It  was  not  in  her  casual  and  fitful  wooing  of  beauty 
that  Germany  caught  the  attention  of  the  world,  but  when 
she  grappled  with  ugliness,  plunging  breast-high  in  the 
slough,  and  derisively  impaling  the  creeping  population  of 
foul  things." 

This  great  fact,  however,  which  Leo  failed  to  under- 
stand, was  the  cause  of  his  inability  to  perceive  the 
significance  of  that  train  of  circumstances  leading  up 
to  the  Reformation.  Everyone  save  those  in  the  im- 
mediate entourage  of  Leo,  where  similar  sentiments  to 

1  Bemho  to  Sadoleto. 


THE   ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE        229 

his  own  regarding  the  comparative  barbarism  of  German 
life  and  letters  prevailed,1  realised  that  sooner  or  later 
a  disruption  must  take  place  in  the  Roman  Church  in 
Germany.  To  give  him  his  due,  Leo  was  a  man  who 
fain  would  have  practised  the  policy  of  laissez  faire, 
as  soon  as  the  publication  of  the  XCV.  Theses  let  the 
fact  be  understood  that  Luther  was  in  earnest.  He 
would  simply  have  "  enjoyed  the  Papacy  "  in  his  own 
easy-going  way  in  the  Vatican,  allowing  Luther  the 
while  to  shout  himself  hoarse  in  Germany,  confident  as 
the  pontiff  was  that  as  the  Roman  Church  was  founded 
by  St.  Peter,  and  Peter  was  the  "  Rock "  divinely 
appointed  by  Christ  as  that  whereon  He  would  found 
His  "  Ecclesia,"  the  gates  of  hell  itself  would  not  prevail 
against  it. 

But  Leo  was  not  to  be  allowed  to  play  the  tolerant 
Humanist  towards  the  Reformation.  Sylvester  Mazzo- 
lini  or  Pierias  was  the  Marplot  whose  impetuosity 
proved  the  spark  that  fired  the  pile.  He  refused  to 
see  in  Luther's  Theses  "the  ravings  of  a  drunken 
barbarian  German  who  would  think  differently  when 
sober,"2  and  he  urged  the  Pope  to  cite  Luther  to  Rome. 
We  desire  to  emphasise  this  fact  in  connection  with 
Leo's  reported  attitude  towards  the  Reformer,  namely, 
that  he  long  resisted  any  attempt  to  place  him  in 
antagonism  to  a  man  who,  he  could  not  fail  to  note, 

o 

was  supported  by  many  of  the  leading  Humanists  in 
Germany.  Ere  long,  however,  the  curious  anomaly 

1  One  has  only  to  study  the  letters  of  contemporary  observers,  not 
necessarily  men  of  letters,  and  the  remarks  of  contemporary   literary 
critics,  to  have  this  conviction  proved  up  to  the  hilt.     The  works  of 
Ulrich  von  Hutten,  Crotus  Rubianus,  Eobanus  Hessus,  Mutianus  Rufus, 
Reuchlin,  Erasmus,  etc.,  furnish  abundant  evidence. 

2  Leo's  remark  on  the  literary  composition  of  the  Theses. 


230  THE  MEDICI  AND 

was  witnessed  of  the  Humanist  Pope  actually  champion- 
ing the  cause  of  those  who  were  antagonistic  to  the 
cause  of  the  "  New  Learning,"  the  Hoogenstratens,  the 
Kollins,  the  Meyers,  the  Tungerns,  et  hoc  genus  ortine, 
not  forgetting  the  pilloried  prophet  of  the  Epistolce 
Obscurorum  Virorum — Ortuinus  Gratius  !  Had  Leo's 
own  inclinations  been  consulted  there  would  assuredly 
have  been  no  prosecuting  of  Luther,  and  in  all  proba- 
bility the  German  Keformation  would  have  sought  a 
different  outlet. 

But  our  object  is  not  to  trace  Leo's  relations  to  the 
Reformation  further  than  to  say,  that  so  far  he  was 
even  in  favour  of  many  of  the  early  doctrines  of  the 
new  movement,  until  they  began  to  trench  upon  the 
revenues  of  the  Papacy.  The  luxury-loving  pontiff,  to 
whose  artistic  nature  the  impossibility  of  gratifying 
his  craving  after  what  was  aesthetically  attractive  in 
literature  and  art,  presented  itself  in  the  light  of  an 
infinitely  more  serious  calamity  than  any  temporary 
eclipse  of  the  Roman  Catholic  creed  in  Germany,  was 
only  roused  when  Peter's  Pence1  began  to  fail.  The 
man  who  questioned  the  doctrines  of  the  Papacy  might 
or  might  not  be  worthy  of  censure,  but  the  man  or  the 
monk  who  interfered  with  the  revenues  of  the  Papacy 
and  diverted,  be  it  ever  so  slightly,  the  Pactolean 
stream  which  flowed  from  the  pockets  of  the  faithful 
to  the  purse  of  St.  Peter,  was,  without  the  least 
shadow  of  doubt,  a  desperate  heretic,  one  for  whom 
the  "  anathema  maranatha  "  of  excommunication  would 
scarcely  be  sufficient  punishment. 

1The  term  "Peter's  Pence"  is  used  here  to  indicate  the  offerings  of 
the  faithful  of  all  lands  to  the  pontiff,  although,  strictly  speaking,  the 
phrase  is  only  applicable  to  England. 


THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         231 

We  have  at  some  length  indicated  Leo's  relations  to 
German  Humanism,  inasmuch  as  his  attitude  to  the 
Reformation  was  so  largely  influenced  by  them.  To 
this  phase  of  his  life's  work  we  do  not  intend  to  revert, 
preferring  rather  to  refer  readers  to  Professor  Lindsay's 
able  volume  on  Luther  in  this  series,  for  further  infor- 
mation on  the  subject.  Leo's  attitude  to  Italian  Human- 
ism, however,  must  necessarily  be  considered  with  some 
degree  of  fulness,  because  to  his  efforts  Italy  and 
through  Italy  Europe,  owed  many  reforms  in  educa- 
tion and  belles  lettres,  the  benefits  of  which  we  enjoy 
to-day. 

Before  doing  so,  however,  we  must  record  in  a  few 
sentences  the  character  of  Leo's  temporal  as  distin- 
guished from  his  ecclesiastical  and  literary  policy,  and 
the  effect  it  produced  upon  Europe.  Leo  x.  was  con- 
spicuously lacking  in  that  political  ability  which  dis- 
tinguished his  father  and  great-grandfather.  Greater 
by  far  as  a  literary  Maecenas  than  as  a  diplomatist,  to 
his  blundering  was, due  more  than  one  of  those  com- 
plications which  arose  in  Italy  during  his  pontificate. 
The  Sack  of  Rome  in  1527,  though  proximately  attri- 
butable to  the  hesitation  and  vacillation  of  his  cousin 
Clement  vil.,  was  only  the  ultimate  result  of  the  polit- 
ical policy  of  Leo  x.,  who  coquetted  first  with  France 
against  Spain  to  secure  the  kingdom  of  Naples  for  his 
brother  Giuliano ;  then,  when  the  latter  died,  with  Spain 
against  France  to  aggrandise  his  nephew  Lorenzo  with 
Milan,  Urbino,  and  Ferrara, — seeking,  in  a  word,  to 
play  the  one  monarch  off  against  the  other,  with  the 
Papacy  as  the  deciding  factor  when  it  threw  its  influ- 
ence into  the  scale  of  the  stronger.  He  it  was,  in  fine, 
who  invited  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  into  Italy  to  drive 


232  THE  MEDICI  AND 

the  French  out  of  it.1  By  Roscoe  and  others  of  Leo's 
panegyrists  the  attempt  is  made  to  minimise  the  pontiffs 
guilt.  No  juggling  with  words,  however,  can  obscure 
this  damning  fact,  sufficient  of  itself  to  blacken  the 
memory  of  Leo  until  the  crack  of  doom,  that  it  was  in 
response  to  his  invitation,  proffered  some  years  before, 
that  Charles  let  loose  Frundsberg  and  his  dogs  of  war 
on  the  unhappy  country  in  1527.2  To  say  the  Pope  was 
dead  when  the  black  deed  was  wrought  is  no  palliation. 
Kings  have  long  memories,  and  Leo  when  he  urged 
Charles  to  pour  his  legions  over  the  Alps  knew  what 
would  happen  when  the  ferocious  and  hungry  Spaniards 
would  be  let  loose  over  the  fair  plains  of  Italy,  namely, 
that  their  progress  would  be  written  in  characters  of 
blood  and  fire  from  Ravenna  to  Rome  !  On  Leo,  not  on 
Clement,  it  was  that  Charles  V.  sought  to  shift  the 
responsibility  for  that  awful  crime.3  To  say  that  the 
soldiers  became  maddened  by  indulgence  and  went 
beyond  their  instructions,  relieves  neither  Leo  nor 
Charles  from  blood-guiltiness,  but  the  former  is  the 
greater  offender  of  the  two. 

The  political  policy  of  Leo  x.  was  undiluted  selfish- 
ness ;  but  was  not  this  the  character  of  the  entire  Medi- 
cean  rule  from  Cosimo's  recall  in  1434  to  the  death  of  the 
Grand  Duke  Gastone  of  Tuscany  in  1733  ?  "  Myself,  my 
family  and  the  Holy  See,"  were  the  sole  objects  of  Leo's 
interest,  and,  as  was  added  by  the  witty  Pietro  Aretino, 
the  order  in  which  they  are  named  was  that  of  their 
relative  importance  to  him  as  the  spiritual  head  of 

1  Cf.   Gregorovius  and  Pastor;  also  Franc   Vettori,  Archie.    Stor.  ; 
Ranke,  Deutsche  Geschichlc  (4  Autt.),  ii.  260  ff. 

2  Varchi,  Storia  Fioren.,  i.  42-47. 

3  See  the  letters  recently  discovered  in  the  Vatican  Library. 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE        233 

Christendom.  Leo's  aim  was  to  partition  Northern 
Italy  to  aggrandise  his  family,  and  it  was  in  pursuance 
of  this  policy  that  he  took  away  the  territories  of 
Guido,  Duke  of  Urbino,  and  gave  them  to  his  kinsman 
Lorenzo.  Had  he  lived  much  longer,  it  is  more  than 
probable  that  he  would  have  done  what  both  Sixtus  iv. 
and  Alexander  vi.  tried  hard  to  accomplish  but  failed, 
namely,  to  secularise  the  Papacy  and  render  the  Pontifical 
States  the  hereditary  dominions  of  his  house.1  At  the 
time  of  his  death  he  had  again  convulsed  the  Italian 
peninsula  with  strife,  in  which  the  unhappy  country 
was  but  the  cockpit  wherein  the  great  European  nations 
could  fight  out  their  differences.  Milan  had  been 
captured  by  the  allied  Papal  and  Imperial  troops. 
Ferrara  had  been  invested  by  them,  when  like  a 
thunder-clap  the  intelligence  broke  over  Europe  that  Leo 
X.  was  dead  (1st  December,  1521).  Within  a  fortnight 
the  entire  aspect  of  affairs  was  changed.  Those  who 
had  been  enemies  became  friends,  and  the  cause  for 
which  Leo  had  well-nigh  bartered  his  soul  fell  like  a 
house  of  cards. 

Suspicion  was  rife  that  the  Pope  had  not  met  a 
natural  end  and  that  poison  had  been  employed  to 
remove  him.  To  this  suspicion  there  was  much  to  give 
colour,  not  the  least  feature  being  the  haste  with  which 
he  was  interred.  That  the  Duke  of  Ferrara  or  the 
Duke  of  Urbino  had  bribed  one  of  Leo's  servants  to 
commit  the  crime,  has  always  been  considered  prob- 
able, but  definite  evidence  is  unobtainable,  and  if 
it  ever  existed  it  has  possibly  long  since  been  de- 
stroyed.2 

1  Cf.  Armstrong,  Roscoe,  and  Symonds  on  this  point. 

2  Fabronius,   Vita  Leon  A'.,  239. 


234  THE  MEDICI  AND 

SECTION  3. — Leo  the  Humanist  Pope 

POPE— Leo  x.,  1513 

To  turn  from  Leo  the  diplomatist  to  Leo  the  Human- 
ist is  a  decided  relief,  albeit  the  moral  atmosphere 
affected  by  His  Holiness  as  a  scholar  was  not  a  whit 
more  free  from  chicanery  and  fraud  than  that  in  which 
the  pontiff  as  a  politician  was  wont  to  live. 

The  Rome  of  Leo  x.  was  at  one  and  the  same  time 
the  sink  of  all  the  European  vices,  as  Lorenzo  the 
Magnifico  styled  it,1  and  the  centre  of  all  the  European 
culture  of  the  first  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
The  latest  flower  of  the  Italian  Renaissance  reached 
its  maturity  in  his  pontificate ;  nor  was  this  fact  the 
least  of  the  glories  of  his  age,  that  the  blossom  of 
classic  culture  bore,  as  its  fairest  fruit,  that  highly 
developed  and  sensuously  beautiful  vernacular  litera- 
ture, contained  in  the  works  of  writers  of  such  un- 
questioned ability  as  Ariosto,  Sannazaro,  Molza,  Berni, 
Machiavelli,  Castiglione,  Bandello,  etc.  Though  frankly 
pagan  in  its  religious  sentiments,  though  placing 
Socrates  side  by  side  with  Christ  as  a  benefactor  to 
humanity,  though  preferring  Hellenic  ethics  to  the 
Christian  morality  that  found  its  highest  expression 
in  personal  purity  and  individual  holiness,  still,  one 
must  make  allowance  for  the  equation  of  "fashion" 
in  estimating  the  prevalence  of  the  pagan  mode.  To 
imitate  the  ancients  was  for  the  time  "  the  vogue  "  in 
letters,  and  everything  was  shaped  to  suit  that  ruling 

1  In  his  letter  to  his  son,  who  as  much  as  any  other  of  his  pre- 
decessors assisted  in  corrupting  it.  Cf.  Lorenzo's  letter  to  Cardinal 
Giovanni,  p.  206. 


THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE        235 

mode.  Even  in  christening  their  children,  those  who 
advanced  any  claims  to  culture  set  a  seal  on  their 
pretensions  by  calling  their  offspring  by  such  bizarre 
titles  as  Annibale,  Atalanta,  Laomedonte,  Pentesilea, 
Cesare,  Galatea,  Achille,  Ettorre,  Ercole,  Aspasia, 
Ippolito,  Portia,  Fedro,  Lucrezia,  etc.  All  who  could, 
converted  their  baptismal  names  into  Latin  or  Greek 
equivalents.  Janus  or  Jovianus  passed  for  Giovanni, 
Pierius  for  Pietro,  Aonius  for  Antonio,  Lucius  Grassus 
for  Luca  Grasso ;  while  the  Roman  professor  Gianpaolo 
Parisio  figured  as  Janus  Parrhasius.  According  to  the 
classicism  of  the  sixteenth  century,  God  was  styled 
Jupiter  Optimus  Maximus;  Providence  appears  as 
Fat-urn,  the  saints  are  Divi,  the  Pope  becomes  the 
Pontifex  Maximus,  Peter  and  Paul  are  Dii  Tutelares 
Romce,  and  the  souls  of  the  just  were  Manes  pii,  while 
the  cardinals  were  A-ugures,  and  the  nuns  "Vestal 
Virgins."  Every  feast  and  service  in  the  Church  was 
obliged  to  assume  its  pagan  synonym  or  counterpart, 
and  the  wildest  confusion  of  ideas  was  complacently 
tolerated  in  order  that  "  Ciceronianism  "  pure  and  un- 
defiled  might  rule  the  taste  of  the  hour.  The  extra- 
vagant length  to  which  this  fad  was  carried  may  be 
seen  by  those  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  read  Bem- 
bo's  History  of  Venice,  Vida's  Christiad,  Pontanus's 
Urania,  or  Sannazaro's  De  Partu  Virginis.  As  Cer- 
vantes smiled  Spain's  chivalry  away  in  Don  Quix- 
ote, so  Erasmus  laughed  "  Ciceronianism "  out  of 
fashion,  by  his  genial  satire  Ciceronianus,  which  united 
in  itself  an  irony  as  keen  as  the  edge  of  a  Damascus 
scimitar  with  a  Latinity  as  pure  as  that  of  Bembo  or 
Sadoleto  themselves. 

Leo  was  a  Ciceronian  and  did  much  to  give  the  folly 


236  THE  MEDICI   AND 

its  vogue.  But  if  that  fault  has  to  be  urged  against 
him,  we  can  adduce  countervailing  benefits  rendered 
by  him  to  letters  which  cover  a  multitude  of  such  sins. 
That  great  expectations  had  been  entertained  by  the 
Humanists  regarding  the  benefits  their  class  would 
reap  from  the  election  of  so  cultured  a  Pope  can  still 
be  verified  from  the  testimony  of  contemporary  litera- 
ture.1 But  their  wants  were  quite  beyond  the  ability 
of  the  pontiff  to  satisfy,  inasmuch  as  each  writer  con- 
sidered his  claims  to  distinction  paramount  to  those 
of  all  the  others.  In  this  connection,  Ariosto's  Third 
Satire  should  be  carefully  studied  as  a  biting  piece  of 
raillery  on  papal  promises  and  their  performance.2 

Among  those  beneficent  undertakings,  however, 
which  Leo  was  able  to  achieve,  not  the  least  was  the 
re-establishment  on  a  firm  basis  of  the  Sapienza,  or 
College  founded  by  Eugenius  IV.  for  the  study  of  the 
classics,  philosophy,  science,  and  eloquence.  By  richly 
endowing  the  various  chairs  he  thus  provided  that 
only  the  best  scholars  would  be  called  to  occupy  them. 
From  the  original  roll  of  the  Roman  Academy,  as  it 
existed  in  1514,  the  year  after  its  re-establishment  by 
Leo,3  we  note  that  the  number  of  professors  whose 
salaries  were  paid  out  of  the  funds  provided  by  the  Pope 
was  ninety-three.  The  subj  ects  on  which  they  prelected 
were  the  canon  and  civil  law,  rhetoric,  moral  philosophy, 
theology,  logic,  and  mathematics.  Chairs  were  also 
founded  in  medicine,  botany,  and  the  medical  science  of 

1  See  the  panegyrics  of  Phil omusus,  Exultatio  in  crcatione  Leonis  X., 
and  of  Valerianus,  Ad  Leoncm  X.     These  are  but  specimens  of  upwards 
of  twenty  others  which  could  be  named  as  still  extant. 

2  Ariosto's  Third  Satire,  to  Annibale  Malaguzzi. 

3  It  still  exists  in  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo.     Its  contents  were  pub- 
lished by  the  Abate  Marini  in  1797. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE        237 

plants.  Among  the  professors  were  Lascaris,  Musurus, 
Valerianus,  Antinorus,  Varino,  Ambrogio,  Bembo,  Tris- 
sino,  and  many  others  whose  names  will  be  mentioned 
hereafter.  The  Sapienza  was  of  great  benefit  to  the 
Roman  youth,  and  if  Leo  had  done  nothing  else  than 
reorganise  this  institution  he  achieved  a  work  worthy 
of  commemorating-  his  name. 

o 

To  mention  every  learned  beneficiary  of  the  great 
Humanist  Pope  would  be  quite  beyond  the  scope  of  our 
sketch.  Am  on  g  the  first  things  which  Leo  did  after  his 
accession  to  the  Papacy,  was  the  establishment  of  a  Greek 
press  in  Rome.  In  charge  of  this  he  placed  the  cele- 
brated John  Lascaris,  with  instructions  to  associate 
with  himself  as  many  of  the  leading  scholars  then 
resident  in  Rome  as  he  might  require  as  readers  for 
the  press.  Nor  did  Leo  confine  his  favours  to  Aldus 
and  Lascaris.  To  Lorenzo  Francesco  de'  Alopa  he  also 
extended  patronage,  and  at  his  instigation  an  edition  of 
four  of  the  dramas  of  Euripides,  also  a  second  edition 
of  Callimachus,  as  well  as  Porphyry  and  some  of  the 
earlier  books  of  the  Iliad  were  issued,  all  of  these  being 
intended  for  the  use  of  the  Sapienza. 

But  to  continue  our  sketch  of  the  scholars  who 
found  their  sphere  in  Rome  during  the  epoch  of  Leo ! 
In  classical  learning.  Musurus  and  Aldus  Manutius,1  by 
the  publication  of  their  edition  of  Plato,  justified  the 
great  favour  shown  them  by  the  pontiff.  The  dedica- 
tion to  Leo,  though  standing  in  the  name  of  Aldus,  the 
printer,  really  expressed  the  sentiments  of  both  col- 
laborators. One  of  the  most  distinguished  of  Italian 

1  Aldus  Manutius  received  many  tokens  of  Leo's  favour,  not  the  least 
being  the  monopoly  granted  him  for  fifteen  years  of  printing  in  the 
Aldiue  or  Italic  type,  whereof  he  was  the  inventor. 


238  THE  MEDICI  AND 

Humanists  of  that  age  was  Guarino  Favorino,  or  in 
the  Latinised  form,  Varinus  Favorinus1  (1465-1537). 
A  student  of  Poliziano,  he  prided  himself  upon  carrying 
the  precepts  of  that  great  scholar  into  all  the  work  he 
achieved  during  his  busy  career.  He  was  the  first  of 
the  Renaissance  literati  to  make  a  collection  of  the 
grammatical  tracts  on  the  Greek  language,  selected 
from  the  fragmentary  critical  remains  of  some  thirty - 
four  of  the  ancient  grammarians, — a  work  entailing 
enormous  labour  and  patient  investigation,  which  Henry 
Stephens  many  years  after  completed  in  his  Thesaurus 
Lingua?  Grcecce.  To  the  labours  of  Varino  also  we 
owe  a  translation  into  Latin  of  Stobaeus's  collection  of 
Greek  apothegms,  and  finally  that  great  Greek  lexicon 
bearing  his  name  which  for  many  years  was  to  take 
rank  as  the  standard  Thesaurus  of  the  Greek  language. 
His  position  as  librarian  in  the  family  of  the  Medici, 
first  when  Giovanni  was  Cardinal  and  later  when  he 
was  Pope,  afforded  him  that  leisure  and  access  to  litera- 
ture, ancient  and  modern,  indispensable  to  anyone 
contemplating  a  work  such  as  that  referred  to,  which 
he  naturally  regarded  as  his  magnum  opus. 

Scipione  Forteguerra  of  Pistoia  (1467-1513),  also 
better  known  by  the  Hellenised  form  of  his  surname 
Cateromachus,  was  another  scholar  of  distinction  to 
whom  Leo  showed  exceptional  favour.  He  too  was  a 
pupil  of  Poliziano,  and  like  Varino  endeavoured  to  prac- 
tise on  all  occasions  the  critical  principles  formulated 
by  the  Florentine  Humanist.  Scipione  is,  however,  one 
who  lives  more  in  the  testimony  borne  by  others  to  his 
talents  and  achievements  than  in  any  works  that  have 
come  down  to  us.  His  writings  have  all  disappeared 
1  The  name  often  appears  in  the  form  Yarino  Camcrti. 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE        239 

save  an  oration  in  praise  of  Greek  literature  recited 
by  him  before  a  noble  audience  in  Venice  in  1504 ;  and 
a  few  epigrams  in  Latin  and  Greek,  which  bear  the 
stamp  of  a  cultured  and  richly  endowed  mind.  Leo  was 
deeply  attached  to  him,  as  they  had  been  companions 
in  youth,  and  had  already  bestowed  testimonies  of  his 
goodwill  upon  him  when  Scipione  died  only  six  months 
after  his  friend's  election  to  the  Papacy. 

Fra  Urbano  Valeriano  Bolzanio  of  Belluno  (1440- 
1524) — better  known  as  Valerianus — was  one  who,  as 
a  youth,  endeavoured  to  expand  his  mind  by  foreign 
travel.  Although  a  monk,  he  quitted  the  cloister  and 
travelled  on  foot  through  Greece,  Palestine,  Egypt, 
Syria,  Arabia,  and  elsewhere.  He  published  little,  but 
as  a  teacher  and  as  a  corrector  of  the  press  for  the  Aldi 
at  Venice,  where  he  resided  for  upwards  of  forty  years, 
he  rendered  immense  services  to  the  cause  of  the 
Renaissance.  His  grammar  of  the  Greek  language, 
written  in  a  Latin  style  as  graceful  as  it  was  accurate, 
was  praised  by  Erasmus  as  the  best  of  its  time. 

We  have  already  noted  the  applause  with  which  Leo's 
appointment  of  Beinbo  (1470-1547)  and  Sadoleto  (1477- 
1547)  as  his  papal  secretaries  had  been  greeted  by  the 
Sacred  College.  These  two  men  were  the  ornaments  of 
his  Court  in  Rome.  Proficient  as  they  were  in  almost 
every  branch  of  human  learning  then  cultivated,  they 
acquired  especial  fame  by  the  purity  of  their  Latin 
style.  They  were  leading  advocates  of  Ciceronian-ism, 
it  is  true,  but  their  eminence  in  other  pursuits  excused 
their  somewhat  intolerant  bigotry  on  that  point. 
Bembo's  Latin  writings  are  but  few  in  comparison  to 
his  Italian,  but  they  are  pre-eminently  good,  as,  for 
example,  his  epic  on  Aetna.  His  poems  on  Lucrezia 


240  THE  MEDICI   AND 

Borgia  have  done  much  to  rescue  the  name  of  that 
yellow-tressed  temptress  from  the  infamous  scandals 
which  clustered  round  it.  Sadoleto  produced  rather 
more  than  Bembo  in  Latin,  but  both  of  them  seem  to 
have  practised  literally  Horace's  maxim  with  regard 
to  their  writings,  "  Siquid  tamen  olim  scripseris  .  .  . 
nonumque  prematur  in  annum l — If  thou  ever  writest 
aught,  see  to  it  that  it  leaves  not  thy  hands  until 
nine  years  of  revision  have  passed."  Sadoleto's  poem 
on  the  Laocoon,  his  treatise  on  education,  De  Liberia 
Instituendis,  and  his  Latin  tracts  on  various  subjects, 
have  all  been  praised  by  competent  judges  as  being 
couched  in  Latin  that  is  only  inferior  to  that  of 
Poliziano  and  Buchanan.  To  Bembo  and  Sadoleto  the 
Sapienza  owed  much,  and  many  years  later  prelates 
of  eminence  were  wont  to  pride  themselves  on  the 
fact,  "  I  was  a  pupil  of  Sadoleto  and  Bembo." 

Nor  must  we  forget  the  poet  Augurelli  (1441-1524), 
whose  epic  "  Chrysopoeia,"  on  the  art  of  making  gold, 
embodied  the  results  of  certain  alchemical  experi- 
ments he  had  pursued.  Having  dedicated  the  poem 
to  Leo  x.,  the  pontiff  summoned  him  to  the  Vatican 
and,  in  the  presence  of  his  cardinals,  gravely  presented 
Augurelli  with  a  large,  handsome  but  empty  purse, 
adding  that  to  the  man  who  could  make  gold,  nothing 
but  a  purse  was  lacking.2  In  addition  to  this  poem 
Augurelli  wrote  others  which  had  great  popularity  in 
their  day,  such  as  his  Geronticon,  or  "  Old  Age,"  and 
his  lambici  Sermones  and  Carmina.  Despite  the 
unfavourable  opinion  of  Julius  Csesar  Scaliger,  many 
critics  have  ranked  Augurelli  as  only  second  to  Poliziano. 

1  De  Artc  Poetica,  1.  337. 

2  Fabronius,  Vita  Leon  X.,  p.  220. 


THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE        241 

His  style  is  exceedingly  graceful  and  natural,  while  his 
moral  tone  is  much  higher  than  that  of  any  of  his 
fellow-poets. 

To  omit  mention  of  Jacopo  Sannazaro  (1454-1530) 
would  be  to  overlook  one  of  the  few  Renaissance 
writers  of  Latin  verse,  the  popularity  of  whose  works 
has  remained  to  the  present  day.  This  distinction 
he  owes,  however,  rather  to  his  Italian  romance 
Arcadia — the  model  on  which  Sir  Philip  Sidney 
founded  his  delightful  English  classic — than  to  the 
intrinsic  interest  of  his  De  Partu  Virginia,  his 
piscatory  eclogues,  and  his  elegies.  Leo  died  before 
he  could  receive  the  honour  of  the  dedication  of  the 
De  Partu,  Virginia.  Not  to  be  beaten,  and  that  the 
composition  of  the  dedication,  upon  which  he  had  spent 
such  infinite  pains,  might  not  be  thrown  away,  he 
slightly  altered  the  terms  of  it  and  made  it  apply  to 
the  second  Medicean  Pope,  Clement  VII.  Sannazaro, 
with  those  other  Humanists  whom  we  have  named,  did 
much  to  preserve  the  purity  of  the  Latin  style  of  the 
period.  His  Italian  works,  to  be  mentioned  presently, 
exercised  also  a  salient  influence  on  the  current  standard 
of  the  vernacular.  For,  in  his  day,  the  remarkable 
spectacle  was  witnessed  of  two  literary  media  used 
with  grace  and  precision  by  the  same  parties. 

Sannazaro  was  one  of  a  contemporary  group  of 
Latin  poets,  all  of  whom  contested  pride  of  place  with 
Bembo,  Sadoleto,  and  himself.  One  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished of  these,  and  a  scholar,  moreover,  held  in 
great  regard  by  Leo,  was  Marco  Girolamo  Vida  (1475- 
1566),  whose  works  have  been  largely  read  in  Europe 
even  to  the  present  day,  owing  to  his  clear  easy  style 
and  the  beauty  of  his  word-painting.  His  poems 
16 


242  THE  MEDICI   AND 

comprised  three  books  of  De  Arte  Poetica]  another 
entitled  Bombyx,  dealing  with  the  rearing  of  silk- 
worms ;  a  third,  Scacchiae  Ludus,  on  the  game  of  chess. 
The  last  of  these  specially  attracted  the  attention  of 
Leo,  who  considered  the  theme  beyond  the  power  of 
any  poet  to  render  interesting.  Vida's  success  in  doing 
so  rendered  his  triumph  all  the  greater.  But  the  piece 
by  which  he  has  chiefly  been,  and  will  continue  to  be, 
known  to  fame  is  his  Christiad,  or  "Life  of  Christ." 
In  this  great  Latin  poem,  to  which  Milton  undoubtedly 
was  under  obligations,  the  author  rises  at  times  to  a 
height  of  true  sublimity,  whither  few  indeed  of  his 
contemporaries  could  follow  him. 

Another  scholar-poet  whose  talents  raised  him  to 
high  position  in  the  esteem  of  the  pontiff  and  of  his 
contemporaries  was  Girolamo  Fracastorio  (1483-1553), 
whose  name  and  fame  would  be  greater  to-day  but  for 
the  title  and  subject  of  his  greatest  work.  Our  readers 
can  judge  of  the  moral  depravity  of  the  Renaissance 
period  when  we  state  that  two  of  the  most  popular 
poems  of  that  epoch,  which  may  be  said  to  have 
opened  with  the  accession  of  Cosimo  de'  Medici  to 
his  family  honours  in  1428,  and  to  have  closed  with 
the  Sack  of  Rome  in  1527,  were  Beccadelli's  Her- 
maphroditus  and  Fracastorio's  Syphilis.  That  men 
whose  ability  was  unquestionable,  who  showed  that 
on  other  themes  they  could  write  with  delicacy, 
purity,  and  noble  elevation,  should  condescend  to 
describe  scenes  the  most  degrading  and  a  disease  the 
most  loathsome ;  that  such  works,  moreover,  should  be 
applauded  by  many  of  the  clergy,  read  by  successive 
popes,  and  should  bring  their  authors  both  fame  and 
fortune,  gives  one  a  terrible  idea  of  the  festering  sore 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE        243 

of  moral  corruption  that  lay  hidden  beneath  the  flowers 
and  the  gay  garlands,  the  aesthetic  culture  and  artistic 
development  of  the  Italian  Renaissance.  Notwith- 
standing the  repulsive  nature  of  the  theme,  some  of 
Fracastorio's  pictures  of  natural  scenery  were  admitted 
by  Milton  to  be  unsurpassed  in  literature. 

Still  another  of  the  group  of  Latin  poets  patronised 
by  Leo  was  Andrea  Navagero  (1483-1528),  who,  both 
as  scholar  and  poet,  did  much  to  form  the  taste  of  the 
age  of  Leo.  His  critical  judgment  was  so  delicate  that, 
although  most  generous  in  his  estimate  of  the  work  of 
others,  he  never  felt  satisfied  with  aught  of  his  own. 

o 

To  the  flames,  therefore,  he  committed  nearly  all  lie 
had  written ;  what  appears  under  his  name  now  being 
those  compositions  of  which  he  had  given  copies  to 
friends.  He  was  the  Niccoltf  de  Niccoli  of  the  acre  of 

o 

Leo.  His  taste  was  so  true,  his  judgment  so  unerring, 
his  mind  so  unprejudiced,  that  half  the  literati  of 
the  period  were  in  the  habit  of  submitting  their  work 
to  his  revision  before  publication.  The  poems  he  has 
left,  and  which  were  collected  in  one  volume,  justify 
the  high  estimation  in  which  he  was  held. 

Among  the  other  Latin  poets  whose  celebrity  in  their 
day  warrant  mention  in  such  a  sketch  as  this  we  would 
name  Marc  Antonio  Flaminio  (1498-1550),  who,  al- 
though he  did  not  attempt  any  sustained  work,  by 
his  Odes,  Eclogues,  Hymns,  Elegies,  and  Epistles, 
attained  a  prominent  position  in  the  esteem  of  Leo  and 
his  friends;  the  three  Capilupi,  Laelio,  Ippolito,  and 
Camillo ;  Trifone  Benzio  (1485-1549),  whose  Latin 
philosophical  poems  even  yet  repay  perusal;  Acliilli 
Bocchi  (1490-1563),  whose  acquaintance  with  Greek 
and  Hebrew  was  so  intimate  as  to  arouse  a  suspicion 


244  THE  MEDICI  AND 

he  had  dealings  with  the  Evil  One ;  Gabriello  Faerno 
(1488-1564),  whose  metrical  fables  were  written  in 
Latin  of  such  classic  purity  as  to  give  colour  to  the 
report  he  had  discovered  and  availed  himself  of  the  un- 
published works  of  Phaedrus ;  Postumo  Silvestri  (1479- 
1521),  whose  friendship  with  Leo  was  so  intimate  that 
he  usually  accompanied  him  on  his  hunting  expeditions, 
and  who,  moreover,  has  celebrated  the  pontificate  of  his 
friend  in  terms  that  do  credit  both  to  his  head  and  to 
his  heart.  Giovanni  Mozzarello  (1490-1518)  was  an- 
other who,  as  Roscoe  says,  by  his  wit  and  vivacity 
contributed  to  the  amusement  of  Leo  in  his  hours  of 
leisure.  For  warmth  of  sentiment,  grace,  and  eloquence 
of  diction  and  wealth  of  poetic  fancy,  Mozzarello 
falls  not  far  short  of  Catullus.  His  elegies  and 
epigrams  were  based  upon  those  of  the  great  Roman 
elegist.  Space  only  remains  to  mention  Pontanus,  the 
poet  of  nuptial  love  whose  three  books,  De  Amore 
Conjugctfi,  present  glowing  pictures  of  domestic  bliss, 
the  Torriani,  Amalteo  Bonfadio,  and  Archio,  all  of  whom 
spent  some  time  at  least  in  Rome  and  enjoyed  the 
patronage  of  the  pontiff.1  One  class  remains,  namely, 
those  Improvvisatori  who,  imitating  the  example  of 
their  Italian  brethren,  poured  forth,  at  those  splendid 
banquets  Leo  was  in  the  habit  of  giving  at  the  Vatican, 
spontaneous  effusions  in  Latin  on  such  subjects  as 
the  doings  of  the  hour  suggested,  effusions  often  of 
wretched  enough  quality.  But  what  of  that  ?  They 
served  to  pass  away  an  hour  of  the  day  to  that  weary 

1  Had  space  permitted  we  should  have  wished  to  mention  the  work 
of  Onorato  Fascitelli,  Basilic  Zanchii,  Benedetto  Lampridio,  Adamo 
Fumani — who  all  did  excellent  service  by  their  Latin  poetry  and 
critical  labours.  Of.  Roscoe,  Leo,  chaps,  xvi.  and  xvii. 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE        245 

dissatisfied  man  calling  himself  "  The  Vicar  of  Christ," 
whose  pleasures  one  by  one  were  turning  into  "  Dead 
Sea  Fruit"  before  him.  Brandolini,  Morone,  Querno, 
Gazoldo,  and  Britonio  were  the  chief  cultivators  of 
this  improvised  type  of  verse,  which  of  course  was  not 
intended  to  live. 

But  Leo  would  not  have  been  the  son  of  his  father 
had'"  he  neglected  to  patronise  the  works  in  the  ver- 
nacular of  poets  whose  fame  he  certainly  assisted  in 
establishing,  if  he  was  not  the  first  to  introduce  them 
to  the  notice  of  the  public.  Sannazaro,  though  most 
of  his  Italian  poems  were  produced  before  the  ponti- 
ficate of  Leo,  nevertheless  in  various  odes  and  elegies, 
written  at  this  time,  proved  that  his  devotion  to  Latin 
verse  had  not  affected  his  faculty  of  pouring  forth 
strains  as  vigorous  and  inspiring  in  sentiment  as  they 
were  graceful  and  elegant  in  metrical  construction. 
Antonio  Tebaldo  (1463-1537)  was  one  of  the  earliest  of 
Leo's  panegyrists,  and  tradition  records  the  pontiff  to 
have  been  so  delighted  with  an  epigram  sent  him  by  the 
poet,  written  both  in  Latin  and  Italian,  that  he  pre- 
sented him  with  500  ducats.  Tebaldo  produced  no  long 
poem,  and  is  accused  by  Muratori  of  having  corrupted 
the  Italian  tongue  by  his  vicious  critical  taste  in  using 
foreign  terms.  Bernardo  Accolti  was  in  his  age  the 
most  famous  of  all  Italian  poets.  Pietro  Aretino  states 
that  "  when  it  was  known  in  Rome  that  the  celestial 
Bernardo  Accolti  intended  to  recite  his  verses,  the  shops 
were  shut  up  as  for  a  holiday,  and  all  persons  hastened 
to  partake  of  the  entertainment."  He  further  states 
that  on  one  occasion  he  was  sent  by  Leo  to  request  that 
Accolti  would  favour  him  with  a  visit,  as  he  had 
promised.  No  sooner  did  the  poet  make  his  appearance 


246  THE  MEDICI  AND 

in  the  Hall  of  St.  Peter  than  the  Pope  called  out,"  Open 
all  the  doors  and  let  in  the  crowd."  Accolti  then 
recited  a  Ternale  in  honour  of  the  Virgin,  with  which  his 
auditors  were  so  delighted  that  they  shouted  "  Long  live 
the  divine  poet,  the  unparalleled  Accolti."  Though 
most  of  his  writings  have  been  lost,  such  fragments  as 
remain  give  us  by  no  means  so  exalted  an  idea  of  his 
merits.  His  poems  are  stilted  and  bombastic  in 
expression  and  trifling  in  thought.  His  Strambotti, 
his  dramatic  poem  Virginia,  and  some  elegies  are  all 
that  remain  of  this  once  famous  writer. 

To  Bembo,  both  as  man  of  letters  and  dictator  of 
Italian  literature  after  Poliziano,  we  have  already  more 
than  once  referred.  He  was  well  worthy  of  high  praise, 
inasmuch  as  he  revived  a  taste  in  Tuscan  literature  by 
his  Italian  poems.  His  Canzoni  and  Sonetti,  however, 
although  admirable  specimens  of  that  kind  of  literature, 
are  too  cold  and  statuesque  to  please  modern  taste. 
The  warmth  of  human  sentiment  and  the  emotions  of 
flesh-and-blood  humanity  are  absent  from  them.  His 
connection  with  Leo  was  most  intimate,  and  he  has  left 
many  anecdotes  of  the  pontiff's  sayings  and  doings. 

Francesco  Molza  (1489-1528),  a  man  of  talent  the  most 
profound  but  of  morals  the  most  depraved,  who  in  his 
Italian  poems  combined  beauty  of  thought  with  great 
metrical  excellence,  was  also  one  of  Leo's  beneficiaries. 
The  first  draft  of  his  poem  La  Ninfa  Tiber-ilia  was 
dedicated  to  Leo  and  was  highly  praised  by  him. 

But  undoubtedly  the  greatest  poet  of  this  epoch  was 
one  who  to  this  day  is  read  with  admiration  and  delight 
by  all  who  can  enjoy  him  in  the  vernacular,  and  one 
whose  delicious  verse  loses  less  than  most  by  translation, 
so  that  English  readers  can  peruse  the  Orlando  Furioso 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE        247 

with,  comparatively  speaking,  little  loss  of  the  beauty 
of  the  original.  Ariosto,  in  common  with  others, 
repaired  to  Rome  after  Leo  had  been  elected  to  the 
Chair  of  St.  Peter,  expecting  to  obtain  some  mark  of  his 
favour.  The  pontiff's  patronage,  however,  for  the  time 
being  at  least,  seems  to  have  been  exhausted.  Though 
he  received  his  early  friend  with  great  kindness,  the 
poet  had  to  depart  disappointed  that  no  substantial 
mark  of  Leo's  favour  was  conferred  on  him.  He 
waited  for  a  few  days  in  Rome,  then,  becoming  impatient, 
left  the  Eternal  City  in  disgust.  After  some  unpleasant 
experiences  with  the  Cardinal  Ippolito  d'Este,  to  whom 
he  had  dedicated  the  first  cantos  of  his  great  poem,  he 
went  to  Ferrara.  Here,  under  the  patronage  of  Duke 
Alfonso,  the  remainder  of  his  life  was  spent  in  dignified 
ease  and  contentment.  Ferrara's  lord  was  delighted 
to  have  Italy's  greatest  living  poet  resident  near  him, 
and  treated  him  with  marked  consideration.  Ariosto 
remained  on  friendly  terms  with  Leo  until  the  date  of 
the  pontiffs  death,  but  he  never  asked  him  for  another 
favour.  Leo  sent  him  several  marks  of  his  regard 
which  Ariosto  accepted.  The  story  that  he  returned 
them  with  a  sneer,  that  he  no  longer  needed  them,  has 
been  proved  to  be  one  of  the  fictions  of  Jovianus. 
Ariosto  had  the  courage  to  break  away  from  the 
Petrarchan  bondage,  in  which  nearly  all  the  Italian 
poets  of  the  age  lay  bound.  Hence  he  not  only  secured 
for  himself  "naturalness"  alike  in  style  and  subject, 
but  vindicated  his  own  originality. 

Among  others  who  adorned  the  epoch  of  Leo  were 
Trissino,  who  first  introduced  blank  verse  into  Italian 
poetry,  so  that  a  closer  imitation  of  the  classics  might 
be  attainable.  His  epic  Italia  Liberata  and  his 


248  THE  MEDICI  AND 

tragedy  Sofonisba  are  still  read.  He  exercised  great 
influence  upon  his  contemporaries,  in  stimulating  them 
towards  attempting  a  purification  of  taste  and  style 
in  Italian  verse.  His  efforts  in  this  direction  were 
surpassed  by  a  man  of  greater  ability  than  he,  a 
kinsman  of  the  Medici,  and  one  who  inherited  all 
their  love  of  culture — Giovanni  Rucellai.  He  was  one 
of  the  four  sons  of  Bernardo  Rucellai  by  his  wife 
Nannina,  sister  of  Lorenzo  il  Magnifico,  and  was 
greatly  loved  and  trusted  by  Leo.  His  tragedy  of 
Oreste  and  his  didactic  poem  Le  Api  were  exceedingly 
popular  for  many  a  day  after  the  author's  death. 
His  diction  is  pure  without  being  colourless,  while 
his  warmth  of  fancy  and  keenness  of  intellect  lend 
a  charm  to  his  writings  rivalled  by  few  of  his  con- 
temporaries. Luigi  Alamanni  (1495-1570)  was  an- 
other ornament  of  the  Humanist  pontiff's  Court  whose 
satires  and  lyrics  were  so  admired  by  Leo  that  he 
always  had  a  copy  of  them  beside  him. 

But  Leo's  admiration  was  not  alone  confined  to  the 
work  of  male  writers — Vittoria  Colonna,  Marchioness 
of  Pescara,  whose  Stanze  and  Canzone  were  only 
excelled  by  those  of  Ariosto;  Veronica  Gambara, 
Countess  of  Correggio,1  whose  Sonnets,  founded  on 
the  Petrarchan  model,  were  in  great  request  during 
her  lifetime;  Costanza  d'Avalos,  Duchess  of  Amalti, 
whose  poems  are  usually  bound  up  with  those  of 
Veronica  Gambara ;  Laura  Terracina  of  Naples,  Laura 
Battiferra  of  Urbino,  and  Gaspara  Stampa  of  Padua 
were  all  imitators  of  Petrarch,  whose  poems  can  even 
yet  be  perused  with  pleasure  and  profit. 

To  pass  from  the  age  of  Leo  without  indicating  a 
1  The  patroness  of  Correggio  the 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE        249 

type  of  literature  which  if  it  did  not  date  its  rise 
from  his  pontificate  was  certainly  perfected  during 
it,  would  be  a  culpable  oversight.  We  refer  to  Jocose 
Satire.  To  the  closing  decades  of  the  preceding 
century  its  origin  was  due,  and  to  Lorenzo  de'  Medici, 
Burchiello,  Franco,  and  Luigi  Pulci  as  its  authors, 
but  owing  to  many  reasons  had  fallen  into  disrepute. 
Francesco  Berni  revived  it  for  the  amusement  of  the 
life-weary  pontiff,  in  which  effort  he  was  assisted  by 
Francesco  Mauro,  and  Gian-Francesco  Bini,  Teofilo 
Folengo,  Giovanni  della  Casa,  and  Lodovico  Dolce. 
The  pursuit  of  Satire  became  popular,  and  fresh 
impetus  was  given  to  it  when  Folengo  invented 
Macaronic  verse,  in  which  by  a  bizarre  mixture  of 
the  Latin  and  Italian  with  the  various  dialects  of 
the  populace,  and  by  applying  the  forms  of  one 
language  to  the  phrases  of  another,  he  produced  a 
kind  of  mongrel  tongue,  which  by  its  singularity  and 
variety  of  effects  has  become  popular  among  satiric 
poets  as  a  medium  for  their  pleasantries. 

But  while  poetry  was  the  chief  source  of  interest 
to  Leo,  he  was  too  true  a  Humanist  and  had  inherited 
too  much  of  his  father's  spirit,  to  refuse  his  patronage 
to  any  department  of  literature  Hence  we  find  him 
encouraging  both  Platonists  and  Aristotelians  alik<- 
to  set  themselves  sedulously  to  the  complete  eluci'iu- 
tion  of  the  text  of  their  respective  philosophers.  To 
Niccolo  Tomeo  and  Pietro  Pomponazzo,  both  of  Padua, 
he  addressed,  through  his  datary,  a  warm  invitation 
to  remove  to  Rome  and  to  lend  their  services  to  the 
Sapienza.  Though  neither  of  them  permanently 
settled  in  the  Eternal  City,  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  they  both  lectured  for  a  season,  the  former  on 


250  THE  MEDICI   AND 

Aristotle,  the  latter  on  Plato.  Another  great  Aristo- 
telian was  Agostino  Nifo,  who  actually  did  settle  in 
Rome  and  joined  the  staff  of  the  Sapienza.  Giovan- 
Francesco  Pico  della  Mirandola,  nephew  of  the  great 
Giovanni  Pico,  the  friend  of  Lorenzo  il  Magnifico,1 
was  another  whose  talents  cast  a  lustre  over  the 
age.  While  almost  as  versatile  as  his  great  relative, 
his  works  treating  of  topics  in  well-nigh  every  field 
of  intellectual  labour, — poetry,  theology,  antiquities, 
natural  philosophy,  morals,  translations  from  the  Greek, 
etc.2 — like  his  uncle  he  was  an  enthusiastic  Platonist, 
and  in  his  chief  book  De  Re-rum  Praenotione  has 
warmly  combated  many  of  Aristotle's  doctrines.  He 
was  a  frequent  visitor  at  the  Court  of  Leo,  and 
delivered  at  least  two  courses  of  lectures  in  Rome. 

Science  as  well  as  philosophy  prospered  under  the 
Humanist  pontiff's  patronage.  Until  about  1500,  judicial 
astrology  usurped  the  place  of  a  true  scientific  method. 
Most  of  the  leading  rulers  of  the  epoch  kept  their  State 
astrologer,  whom  they  consulted  before  embarking  on 
any  enterprise,  just  as  to-day  our  modern  system  pro- 
vides for  the  appointment  of  Government  meteorologists 
to  furnish  us  with  weather  forecasts.  Although  not  en- 
tirely free  from  superstition,  Leo  strove  to  divest  science 
of  its  unworthy  attributes.  The  early  attempts  of 
Italian  scholars  to  investigate  the  phenomena  of 
nature  were  uncertain  and  timid.  One  of  the  first 
who  applied  himself  to  this  subject  was  Cecco  d' 
Ascoli,  who  may  justly  be  called  the  Father  of  Italian 

1  The  use  of  this  title  is  almost  necessary,  seeing  there  were  no  fewer 
than  five  of  the  name — Lorenzo  cle'  Medici — who  attained  to  some 
degree  of  historic  eminence. 

-  Tiraboschi,  vii.  i.  396-398. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         251 

Science.1  But  as  he  was  burned  in  1327,  by  sentence 
of  the  Inquisition,  for  his  temerity  in  asserting  that 
which  two  centuries  later  no  thinker  would  have 
dreamt  of  denying,  his  fate  checked  investigation 
along  similar  lines  for  many  years  to  come.  Paolo 
Toscanelli — who  in  1468  erected  the  gnomon  in  the 
Cathedral  of  Florence,  and  who  also  communicated 
to  Columbus,  through  Fernando  Martinez,  his  chart 
of  navigation,  which  suggested  to  the  great  Genoese 
his  idea  of  a  continent  beyond  the  Western  Sea — was 
another  who  handed  on  the  torch  of  science,  though 
with  fear  and  trembling.  The  wretchedly  trifling 
character  of  the  science  of  the  sixteenth  century  can 
be  gauged,  if  one  will  but  take  the  pains  to  read 
the  treatises  of  Pontanus  on  botany  and  astronomy, 
and  those  of  Fracastorio  on  physical  geography  and 
herbology.  Timid  and  trifling  though  it  was,  Leo 
earnestly  set  himself  to  foster  the  progress  and  develop- 
ment of  scientific  method.  "  If  I  am  to  be  remem- 
bered after  death  as  a  patron  of  letters,  I  should 
wish  science  to  be  included  in  my  claims  to  remem- 
brance." To  the  reformation  of  the  Calendar  he  paid 
great  attention.  At  his  instigation,  several  learned 
treatises  were  produced  by  Joannes  Navariensis,  Paul 
of  Middleburg,  Basilic  Lapi,  and  Antonius  Dulciatus 
— all  of  whom  devoted  themselves  to  the  discovery 
of  the  correct  date  for  the  observance  of  Easter.2 
Leo's  death  put  an  end,  for  the  time  being,  to  these 
schemes  for  reform,  for  his  successor  Adrian  VI. 
cared  for  none  of  these  things,  while  Clement  VII., 
although  a  Medici,  had  his  hands  filled  with  other 
business.  Accordingly  Gregory  xm.  in  1582,  by  the 
1  See  his  poem  L'Acerla.  -  Fabronius  in  Vita  Leon  X.,  275. 


252  THE   MEDICI  AND 

reformation  of  the  Calendar,  reaped  the  honour  really 
belonging  to  Leo,  inasmuch  as  the  former  did  little 
more  than  publish  the  results  of  Leo's  investigations. 

To  the  study  of  natural  history  and  botany  Leo 
was  ever  warmly  attached.  To  his  father's  marvellous 
versatility  was  due  the  fact  that  at  the  villa  of  Poggio- 
a-Cajano,1  he  maintained  what  may  be  termed  "  zoolog- 
ical gardens,"  where  he  could  study  the  habits  of 
animals;  while  at  Careggi  were  located  his  aviary 
and  his  botanical  gardens,  where  ornithology  and  the 
propagation  of  plants  were  pursued  with  conspicuous 
success.  Leo,  from  early  boyhood,  therefore,  had  been 
imbued  with  an  interest  in  these  sciences,  and  this  he 
showed,  when  to  the  issue  of  sumptuous  editions  of 
Pliny  and  of  Dioscorides  he  lent  substantial  aid.  Al- 
though it  was  not  till  twenty-six  years  after  Leo's  death 
— when  the  commentaries  of  Mattioli  on  Dioscorides 
were  published — that  botany  began  to  advance  to  the 
dignity  of  a  science  distinct  from  medical  therapeutics, 
it  owed  much  to  Leo's  munificence  in  granting  assist- 
ance for  the  prosecution  of  these  experiments  which 
were  to  prove  of  such  value  to  Mattioli. 

The  science  of  Ethics,  in  those  days  regarded  as 
distinct  from  philosophy,  inasmuch  as  it  was  supposed 
to  regulate  civil  and  political  as  well  as  moral  conduct, 
had  also  great  attraction  for  Leo.  He  was  fond  of 
hearing  cases  of  casuistry  discussed  before  him.  One 
of  the  most  extraordinary  works,  dating  its  composition 
if  not  its  publication  to  this  pontificate,  was  The  Book 
of  the  Courtier  ("  Libro  del  Cortegiano  ")  by  the  Count 
Baldasare  Castiglione,  who  resided  in  Rome  as  the 

1  See  Lorenzo's  poem  Ambra  for  a  description  of  this   marvellous 
villa. 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE        253 

ambassador  of  the  Duke  of  Urbino.1  In  this  a  picture 
is  given  of  the  ideal  courtier,  accompanied  by  abundant 
advice  as  to  the  regulation  of  personal  conduct  by 
the  rules  of  politeness  and  good  breeding.  No  volume 
had  greater  popularity  than  this,  nor  are  its  maxims 
without  point  and  reference  to  the  deportment  of  a 
gentleman  to-day.  To  no  one  at  his  Court  did  Leo 
show  a  greater  measure  of  respect  than  to  Castiglione. 
To  scholars  who  devoted  themselves  to  recording  the 

o 

annals  of  the  age,  and  the  deeds  of  those  who  had  made 
or  were  making  the  history  of  his  time,  Leo  evinced 
himself  a  discriminating  patron.  As  regards  Machia- 
velli  (1469-1527),  he  not  alone  revealed  himself  as 
magnanimous  and  noble-hearted  when  the  author  of 
the  Prince  fell  into  his  power  after  having  engaged 
in  the  conspiracy  of  Capponi  and  Boscoli  to  assassinate 
the  Medici  subsequent  to  their  restoration  in  1513,  but 
he  conferred  on  him  many  marks  of  his  favour  which 
the  historian  had  done  little  to  deserve.  His  History 
of  Florence,  written  at  the  request  of  Clement  vn.,  to 
whom  it  is  dedicated,  cannot  therefore  be  ascribed  to 
the  age  of  Leo;  the  Prince  and  his  Discourses  on 
Livy,  however,  were  certainly  composed  during  that 
epoch,  and  exercised  no  little  influence  upon  Floren- 
tine politics.  But  the  two  historians  to  whom  Leo 
extended  his  patronage  in  the  largest  degree  were 
Guicciardini  (1482-1540)  and  Paulus  Jovius  (1483- 
1552).  Although  the  former  had  only  produced  a  few 
isolated  compositions,  such  was  the  acuteness  of  his 
mind,  the  justness  and  moderation  of  his  sentiments, 

1  The  book  though  completed  in  1517-1518,  was  not  published  until 
1528.  But  it  circulated  in  MS.  copies  at  the  Courts  both  of  the  Pope 
and  the  Duke. 


254  THE  MEDICI  AND 

and  the  sagacity  and  prevision  displayed  in  his  political 
conduct,  that  he  became  the  trusted  friend  of  the 
pontiff  from  the  hour  they  met.  He  was  employed  by 
Leo  in  many  enterprises  of  "pith  and  moment." 
Paulus  Jovius  was  fortunate  enough  to  obtain  the 
favour  not  only  of  Leo,  but  of  his  two  successors 
Adrian  and  Clement.  Leo's  patronage  of  him,  how- 
ever, is  more  creditable  to  his  heart  than  his  head. 
The  History  of  his  own  Time  by  Jovius  is  a  farrago 
of  marvels,  legends,  and  impossibilities,  interspersed 
with  glowing  panegyrics  of  his  friends  and  bitter 
vituperation  of  his  enemies.  Yet  Leo  had  the  assur- 
ance to  say  he  considered  it  to  be  little  inferior  to 
Livy.  Pierio  Valeriano  (Petrus  Valerianus)  (1492- 
1558)  was  one  of  Leo's  chamberlains,  an  office  to 
which  he  was  appointed  through  having  attracted 
the  pontiff's  attention  by  his  excellent  Latin  poetry. 
He  afterwards  produced  an  interesting  work  on  the 
Misfortunes  of  Scholars  (De  Literatorum  Infelicitate) 
and  a  great  treatise  on  Hieroglyphics,  wherein,  though 
he  has  displayed  profound  learning,  he  has  also  mani- 
fested no  little  credulity.  Nor  must  we  omit  the 
names  of  two  historians  who  rather  wrote  upon  than 
during  the  epoch  of  Leo  X.,  to  wit,  Filippo  Nerli 
(1485-1556) — who  was  so  favourable  to  the  Medici, 
with  whom  he  was  allied  by  ties  of  kinship,  that  he 
has  been  called  their  panegyrist;  and  Jacopo  Nardi 
(1476-1556),  who  was  just  as  bitterly  inimical  to 
them  as  the  other  was  partial.  Like  the  rival  his- 
tories of  Greece  by  Mitford  and  Grote,  their  works 
may  be  read  with  advantage  by  those  who  can  per- 
use them  with  the  addition  of  the  necessary  grains 
of  salt. 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         255 

Although  the  Vatican  Library  owed  its  establishment 
upon  modern  lines  to  Pope  Nicholas  V.,1  who  pur- 
chased for  it  about  5000  volumes  of  valuable  classical 
and  biblical  MSS.  at  an  estimated  cost  of  40,000  scudi, 
Leo  x.  comes  next  to  him  as  its  most  munificent  patron. 
Following  the  example  of  his  father  and  his  great- 
grandfather Cosimo,  his  envoys  and  messengers,  de- 
spatched on  affairs  of  State  to  foreign  lands,  were 
ordered  to  avail  themselves  of  every  opportunity  to 
obtain  those  precious  remains  of  antiquity,  which  were 
supposed  still  to  exist  in  Europe,  Greece,  and  Asia 
Minor;  while,  as  Roscoe  says,  men  of  learning  were 
frequently  specially  despatched  to  remote  and  bar- 
barous countries  for  the  sole  purpose  of  discovering 
and  rescuing  such  works  from  destruction.  For  ex- 
ample, in  1517  John  Heytmers  de  Zonvelben  was  sent 
on  a  mission  of  exploration  to  Germany,  Denmark, 
Sweden,  and  the  Baltic  provinces,  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  inquiring  after  literary  works,  and  particularly  the 
MSS.  of  historical  compositions.2  To  the  different 
sovereigns,  through  whose  dominions  he  would  pass, 
Leo  furnished  him  with  letters  asking  them  to  assist 
him  in  whatever  manner  they  might  find  possible. 
The  same  course  was  adopted  when  he  despatched 
Agostino  Beazzano  to  Venice,  the  Doge  Loredano  being 
directed  to  spare  no  expense  to  further  his  quest. 
These  efforts  were  not  without  fruit.  Many  valuable 
MSS.  were  secured,  particularly  the  first  five  books 

1  Cf.  Schaff,  Renaissance.  Asscmani  and  De  Rossi  date  the  Vatican 
Library  from  the  Gospel  of  Mark,  which  was  written  in  Rome  for 
Romans,  and  from  the  parchments  which  "Paul,  the  prisoner"  in 
Rome,  ordered  Timothy  to  bring  from  Troas  (2  Tim.  iv.  13). 

-  Roscoe,  Leo  X.,  vol.  ii.  p.  279. 


256  THE  MEDICI   AND 

of  the  Annales  of  Tacitus,1  which  were  committ 
to  Beroaldo  to  be  edited  and  annotated;  while  the 
famous  Codex  Vaticanus,  or  MS.  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, was  received  from  Cardinal  Bessarion. 

That  this  magnificent  collection  of  books  might  have 
suitable  custodians,  Leo  appointed  a  succession  of  dis- 
tinguished men  to  the  offices  of  custode,  or  keeper,  and 
of  bibliothecarius,  or  librarian.  The  former  position 
was  held  first  by  Lorenzo  Parmenio,  and  next  by 
Fausto  Sabeo ;  while  the  librarianship,  after  being 
bestowed  on  Tomaso  Fedra  Inghirami,  was  on  his 
death  conferred  upon  Filippo  Beroaldo.  Inghirami 
was  celebrated  for  an  excellent  compendium  of  the 
history  of  Rome,  also  for  a  commentary  on  the  Ars 
Poetica  of  Horace,  and  Scholia  in  Plautum;  while 
his  successor,  besides  his  edition  of  Tacitus,  for  nearly 
two  centuries  the  standard  recension,  was  eminently 
distinguished  for  Latin  verse.  Beroaldo,  however,  did 
not  long  enjoy  the  dignity,  and  its  next  holder  was 
Zanobio  Acciaiuoli,  whose  proficiency  in  the  Greek  and 
Hebrew  languages  was  such  as  to  render  him  one  of 
the  most  distinguished  Hellenists  and  Hebraists  of  his 
day.  No  sooner  had  he  been  appointed  to  the  librarian- 
ship,  than  he  plunged  with  his  wonted  enthusiasm  into 
the  herculean  task  of  selecting  and  arranging  the 
ancient  public  documents  deposited  in  the  Vatican 
Library,  containing  imperial  privileges,  bulls,  and  in- 
struments, of  which  he  formed  a  detailed  index.  His 
unwearied  industry  undermined  a  frame  by  no  means 
constitutionally  strong,  and  once  more  the  office  be- 
came vacant.  This  time  it  was  conferred  on  one  of 

1  Brought  from  the  Abbey  of  Corvey  in  Westphalia  by  Angelo  Arcim- 
boldi,  who  was  rewarded  with  500  zechins. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE        257 

the  most  extraordinary  men  of  the  the  Renaissance 
epoch,  whose  abilities  excited  the  wonder  and  the  ad- 
miration of  his  contemporaries  —  Girolamo  Aleander. 
Besides  standing  in  the  very  first  rank  as  a  linguist, 
— his  proficiency  in  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew  being 
almost  unsurpassed, — he  was  regarded  as  an  authority 
in  theology,  philosophy,  and  science.  Despatched  by 
Leo  to  Germany  as  papal  nuncio  in  1520,  with  orders 
to  "  extinguish  the  Reformation,"  he  found  in  Luther 
more  than  his  match  in  intellectual  robustness,  however 
much  the  great  reformer  might  prove  his  inferior  in 
the  graces  of  culture. 

But  the  list  of  distinguished  scholars  and  men  of 
letters  whom  the  Humanistic  bent  of  Leo  attracted  to 
Rome  might  be  enlarged  almost  indefinitely.  The 
Rome  of  Leo  was,  in  a  word,  an  epitome  of  the 
entire  culture  of  the  Italy  of  his  day.  Never  before, 
and  probably  never  again,  in  the  world's  history 
will  such  a  vast  and  varied  assemblage  of  talented 
and  cultured  men  and  women  be  gathered  together 
within  the  compass  of  a  city.  Poets,  Latin  and 
Italian,  historians,  moralists,  philosophers,  scientists, 
antiquarians,  scholars,  theologians,  met  in  the  gay  salons 
of  the  Vatican,  one  and  all  bent  upon  attracting  the 
attention  of  that  corpulent,  sensual-looking  individual, 
whose  appearance  was  so  repellent,  yet  whose  manners 
were  so  fascinating.  Novelists  like  Bandello,  whose 
stories  of  contemporary  life  are  valuable  pictures  of 
the  period,  rubbed  shoulders  with  the  grave  Cardinal 
Egidio  Canisio,  the  great  Latin  orator  of  his  day. 
Papal  Secretaries  and  Abbreviators  were  each  paying 
court  to  those  cardinals  from  whom  they  expected 
some  favour  or  a  word  of  commendation  on  their 
'7 


258  THE  MEDICI  AND 

behalf  dropped  to  Leo  which  might  lead  to  preferment. 
In  one  corner  might  perchance  be  seen  Baldassare 
Turini,  the  great  builder  and  decorator ;  in  another,  the 
mighty  Bramante,  the  architect  of  St.  Peter's,  whose 
genius  has  never  really  received  the  recognition  that 
is  its  due.  Groups  of  antiquaries  and  sculptors  were 
discussing  the  recent  finds  of  antique  sculpture,  "the 
reclining  statues  of  the  Nile  and  Tiber,"  found  amid 
the  ruins  of  the  Iseum  near  San  Stefano  in  Caco,  or 
the  "Antinous"  discovered  in  the  Baths  of  Trajan. 
Buffoons  were  to  be  seen  making  merry  in  one  apart- 
ment with  the  licentious  satirist  Pietro  Aretino,  while 
in  another  Leo's  versatile  State  Minister  and  Master  of 
the  Revels,  Cardinal  Bibiena,  was  striving  to  compose 
the  differences  of  sundry  choleric  Humanists,  whose 
discussions  upon  the  respective  merits  of  Plato  v.  Aris- 
totle— that  staple  theme  of  debate — threatened  to  lead 
them  from  logic  to  loggerheads. 

Finally,  Leo's  inherited  love  of  art  was  evinced  in 
the  constant  patronage  he  extended  to  Raphael.  The 
world  owes  a  deep  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  Pontiff  for 
the  interest  he  showed  in  the  great  artist's  welfare, 
from  the  day  when  Raphael's  kinsman  Bramante,  when 
he  lay  a-dying,  commended  the  young  painter  to  the 
notice  of  his  Holiness  as  one  in  every  respect  fitted  to 
succeed  him  as  architect  of  St.  Peter's.  Marvellous, 
indeed,  is  the  amount  of  work  Raphael  was  able  to 
accomplish  for  Leo,  and  as  marvellous  is  the  fact  of  the 
high  standard  of  excellence  maintained  throughout. 
The  Chambers  and  the  Loggia  of  the  Vatican  furnished 
opportunities  wherein  the  genius  of  Raphael,  both  as 
a  painter  and  an  architect,  rose  conspicuously  into 
evidence,  in  the  extraordinary  ease  wherewith  he  sur- 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE         259 

mounted  difficulties  that  would  have  daunted  any  other 
man. 

Nor  was  Leo's  patronage  only  conferred  on  Raphael. 
While  the  circumstance  is  to  be  regretted  that  a  mis- 
understanding marred  the  pleasant  intercourse  which 
had  existed,  and  should  otherwise  have  been  main- 
tained, between  those  who  had  been  brought  up  to- 
gether, as  were  Leo  and  Michael  Angelo,  the  fault  lay 
in  the  haughty  temper  of  the  great  sculptor,  who  per- 
haps resented  the  divided  sovereignty  of  art  which  in 
Leo's  epoch  he  was  obliged  to  share  with  Raphael, 
while  in  the  pontificate  of  Julius  II.  he  had  reigned 
alone.  Leo's  favour  was  extended  to  his  father's  friend, 
Lucca  della  Robbia,  whose  ancestral  art  of  painting  on 
Terra  Invitriata,  or  glazed  earth,  was  carried  by  him 
to  a  still  greater  standard  of  excellence.  The  arms  of 
Leo  x.,  executed  in  tile- work,  are  still  visible  in  the 
papal  Loggia  of  the  Vatican.  Andrea  Cantucci  was 
called  up  to  Rome  to  execute,  in  marble  basso  rilievo, 
those  scenes  in  sacred  history  intended  to  adorn  the 
chapel  of  our  Lady  of  Loretto,  and  the  work  exe- 
cuted earned  for  him  the  warmest  commendation  of 
his  patron.  Among  other  artists  whose  talents  Leo 
employed  in  his  endless  schemes  for  making  the  Rome 
of  his  age  the  Paradise  of  Europe,  and  in  some  degree 
a  restoration  of  what  it  had  been  during  the  era  of 
Augustus,  were  Francia  Bigio,  Baccio  Bandinelli,  Giro- 
lamo  Lombardo,  Andrea  del  Sarto,  Jacopo  da  Puntarmo, 
and  many  others  of  less  note.  Engraving  upon  copper, 
an  art  which  for  some  years  had  been  rapidly  rising 
into  esteem  and  popularity  by  the  labours  of  Antonio 
Pollajuolo,  Sandro  Botticelli,  and  Andrea  Mantegna, 
was  finally  brought  to  a  degree  of  perfection — beyond 


260  THE  MEDICI  AND 

which  it  has  really  advanced  but  little — by  Marc- 
Antonio  di  Francia.  Raphael  introduced  the  young 
engraver  to  Leo,  and  henceforward  his  hands  were  kept 
busy  in  reproducing  for  the  pontiff  those  engravings  of 
the  works  of  Raphael  which  have  had  no  small  share 
in  extending  the  fame  of  the  great  painter. 

But  the  theme  is  endless.  One  stands  amazed  at 
the  many-sided  interest  of  this  marvellous  Humanist 
pontiff.  When  we  consider  that  he  occupied  the  Chair 
of  St.  Peter  only  a  few  months  over  eight  years,  that 
previous  to  his  election  to  the  Papacy  he  had  been 
fighting  with  poverty  almost  since  the  death  of  his 
father,  we  cannot  refrain  from  wonder  that,  in  the  time, 
he  should  have  been  able  to  do  so  much  for  the  en- 
couragement of  literature  and  the  arts.  When  we 

o 

recall  the  fact,  however,  that  in  addition  to  all  these 
acts  of  patronage  during  his  pontificate,  he  vigilantly 
repaired  the  roads  and  bridges  within  the  Roman 
territories,  erected  or  enlarged  many  Papal  palaces  in 
various  parts  of  his  dominions  and  placed  Roman  edu- 
cation on  a  satisfactory  footing,  the  wonder  deepens. 
He  also  reformed  and  reorganised  the  church  ritual  by 
introducing  choral  services  and  ordering  that  music 
should  form  a  principal  part  of  public  worship.  On 
Gabriel  Merino  he  conferred  the  Archbishopric  of  Bari, 
and  on  Francesco  Paolesa  the  rank  of  Archdeacon, 
solely  for  their  eminence  in  church  music. 

Granted  that  Leo  left  the  Papacy  twelve  hundred 
thousand  ducats  in  debt,  granted  that  his  instincts 
seem  to  have  been  more  pagan  than  Christian,  granted 
that  his  influence  upon  morality  was  always  on  the 
side  of  relaxing  the  strictness  of  the  code,  his  own  life 
was  pure  and  unspotted.  The  falsehoods  that  were 


circulated  of  his  immorality  have  failed  to  stand 
investigation,  while  the  statements  as  to  his  personal 
observance  of  the  rule  of  celibacy  have  been  curiously 
verified  in  more  than  one  instance.  He  was  never 
addicted  to  the  pleasures  of  the  table.  Amid  the  most 
splendid  banquets,  whether  given  by  himself  or  others, 
he  would  dine  on  vegetables  and  fruits,  and  he  rigidly 
fasted  twice  a  week.  His  weakness  lay  in  a  Medicean 
love  of  pomp  and  splendour,  in  a  desire  to  pose  on  all 
occasions  as  the  great  Humanist  pontiff  whose  hand 
was  ever  open  to  encourage  and  reward  merit.  His 
influence  upon  the  Renaissance  was  great,  because  the 
whole  bent  of  his  mind  was  towards  the  acquisition 
and  advancement  of  literature  and  the  arts. 

True  it  is  that,  by  the  time  his  epoch  closed,  the 
sun  of  Humanism  had  long  passed  its  meridian  and 
was  slowly  sinking  towards  its  setting.  No  longer 
was  Humanism  held  in  reverence  by  all  and  sundry, 
because  having  proved  untrue  to  its  mission,  which 
was  moral  as  well  as  intellectual,  it  had  debased  its 
votaries.  Learning  had  burst  its  class-bonds,  and  had 

o 

become  the  privilege  of  the  many  in  place  of  the  pre- 
rogative of  the  few.  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  however, 
must  be  allowed  to  have  fulfilled  his  destiny.  He  had 
carried  the  torch  of  learning  forward  into  new  planes 
of  social  existence.  He  had  found  Rome  an  intellectual 
Sahara ;  he  filled  her  with  the  learning,  the  literature, 
the  arts,  the  science,  the  theology  of  the  Italian  penin- 
sula. There  have  been  many  greater  pontiffs  than  Leo, 
many  who  by  their  policy  aggrandised  the  Holy  See  to 
a  greater  extent  than  he,  but  it  is  matter  for  question 
whether  there  has  ever  been  an  occupant  of  the  Papal 
Chair  whose  bent  was  so  predominatingly  Humanistic, 


262     MEDICI  AND  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 

and  who  considered  all  things  but  loss,  even  the  sacred 
mysteries  of  religion,  if  only  the  cause  of  culture  pro- 
gressed and  prevailed.  During  his  pontificate  the 
"  stamp  of  universality "  was  given  to  letters  and  the 
arts  by  an  intellectual  sovereign  whose  pre-eminence 
was  acknowledged  by  all  who  made  any  pretensions  to 
scholarship  and  literature.  "  This  epoch,"  says  Symonds, 
"  constituted  the  perfect  bloom  of  the  Renaissance, 
destined  to  survive  the  decay  of  Humanism  and  to  be 
for  subsequent  civilisation  what  chivalry  was  for  the 
Middle  A<res." 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE  AGE  OF  CARDINAL  GIULIO  DE'  MEDICI,  OTHER- 
WISE CLEMENT  vii.,  1478-1534 

POPES— Sixtus  iv.,  1471  ;  Innocent  vni.,  1484  ;  Alexander  vi., 
1492 ;  Pius  in.,  1503 ;  Julius  n.,  1503 ;  Leo  x.,  1513  ; 
Clement  vn.,  1521 

THE  death  of  Leo  x.  in  December  1521— a  death,  as  we 
have  said,  not  unaccompanied  by  grave  suspicions  of 
foul  play— threw  the  Sacred  College  into  a  state  of  the 
wildest  panic  and  confusion.  Italy  was  at  that  time 
the  stake  for  which  both  Charles  v.  of  Spain  and 
Francis  I.  of  France  were  playing,  and  Leo,  as  has  been 
noted,  coquetted  in  turn  with  both.  At  the  precise 
juncture  when  he  died  he  had,  as  we  have  said,  allied 
himself  with  the  former  to  drive  the  French  out  of 
Italy.  His  policy,  however,  had  neither  permanence 
nor  prevision  to  recommend  it.  A  single  French  suc- 
cess and  he  would  have  thrown  himself  into  the  arms 
of  Francis,  while  his  lack  of  foresight  as  to  the  goal 
whither  all  the  designs  of  Charles  tended,  namely, 
to  use  the  Papacy  as  a  tool  to  enable  him  to  rule  his 
dominions,  was  complete. 

When  his  death  occurred,  therefore,  the  Sacred 
College  was  in  doubt  whether  to  allow  the  interests  of 
Spain  or  France  to  obtain  predominance.  One  of  the 


264  THE  MEDICI  AND 

two  had  to  be  acknowledged  as  the  arbiter  of  the 
destinies  of  Europe,  inasmuch  as  the  situation  was  one 
dominated  by  considerations  purely  political.  After  a 
conclave  lasting  many  days,  the  influence  of  Charles 
prevailed,  and  his  tutor,  the  Cardinal  of  Tortosa,  was 
elected  by  a  narrow  majority.  No  sooner  had  they 
done  so  than  the  members  of  the  Consistory  cursed 
their  folly  in  having  placed  an  ignorant  barbarian  in 
the  seat  of  Leo.  Rome  gave  itself  up  to  despair.  Nor, 
when  he  arrived,  did  he  dissipate  by  his  appearance  or 
his  policy  the  injurious  reports  circulated  about  him. 
Of  all  Leo's  splendid  retinue  of  servants  and  attendants, 
numbering  in  all  some  hundreds,  he  retained  but  four. 
Two  Flemish  valets  sufficed  for  his  personal  needs,  and 
to  these  he  gave  each  evening  one  ducat  for  the  expenses 
of  the  next  day's  living.  One  Flemish  servant  made 
his  bed,  washed  his  linen,  and  cooked  his  food.  He 
detested  art,  and  closed  as  many  of  the  picture  and 
statue  galleries  as  he  could,  with  the  angry  murmur, 
"  Pagan  idols  all."  The  army  of  scholars  and  men  of 
letters  for  whom  places  had  been  found  in  the  papal 
service  were  dismissed  in  a  day.  Berni  wrote  one  of 
his  cleverest  satires  on  the  situation,  while  all  the  wits 
in  Rome  affixed  their  squibs  and  epigrams  to  "  Pasquin  "  l 
until  Adrian  threatened  to  throw  the  statue  into  the 
Tiber.  Short  indeed  was  his  pontificate.  Before 
twenty  months  had  come  and  gone  he  was  dead,  and 
the  Romans  affixed  the  inscription  to  his  doctor's  door 
— Liberatori  patriot  Senatus  Populusque  Romanus. 

1  Pasquin  was  an  Italian  tailor  of  the  fifteenth  century  noted  for  his 
wit.  Some  time  after  his  death  a  mutilated  statue  was  dug  up,  about 
which  the  antiquaries  were  not  clear  as  to  what  it  represented.  As  it 
stood  opposite  Pasquin's  house,  the  Romans  called  it  "  Pasquin,"  and 
used  the  torso  as  the  depository  of  their  satiric  effusions. 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE        265 

In  the  minds  of  the  gay  laughter-loving  inhabitants 
of  the  Eternal  City,  not  yet  sobered  by  the  awful  scenes 
and  experiences  of  the  Sack  of  Rome,  the  horror  in- 
spired by  the  rule  of  Adrian,  contrasted  as  its  sombre- 
ness  and  meanness  were  by  the  pomp  and  pageant,  the 
culture  and  the  artistic  efflorescence  that  had  dis- 
tinguished the  age  of  Leo,  made  for  the  election  of 
another  Medicean  pontiff,  in  the  hope  that  with  him 
the  glory  and  the  grandeur  of  the  departed  epoch  might 
be  revived.  Cardinal  Giulio  de'  Medici,  the  natural 
son  of  that  Giuliano  whom  the  daggers  of  the  Pazzi 
conspirators  had  slaughtered  in  Florence  in  1478,  was 
accordingly  appointed  Pope  on  25th  September  1523, 
while  Rome  and  the  Romans  seemed  almost  to  go  mad 
for  joy  over  the  event.  "  We  live  once  more,"  wrote 
Paulus  Jovius  to  Bembo,  then  residing  in  Padua. 

The  earlier  life  of  the  Giulio  de'  Medici  had  been 
largely  spent  by  the  side  of  his  cousin  Giovanni.  What 
the  latter  enjoyed  in  the  way  of  honours,  the  former 
shared ;  what  Giovanni  suffered  in  the  way  of  troubles 
and  reverses,  Giulio  endured  along  with  him.  To  his 
uncle,  the  Magmfico,  he  cherished  the  warmest  affec- 

'  O  ' 

tion,  and  this  led  him  to  manifest  loyal  adherence  to 
the  fortunes  of  his  cousin.  Having  told  the  story  of 
the  latter's  life,  we  have  in  great  part  told  that  of 
Giulio.  He  accompanied  Giovanni  to  Rome  ;  he  shared 
with  him  his  exile,  and  often  sustained  his  drooping 
hopes.  He  accompanied  him  on  his  tour  through 
Europe ;  and  on  the  return  of  the  latter  to  Rome,  after 
Alexander  laid  aside  his  enmity  towards  the  Medici,  and 
when  Julius  began  his  pontificate,  he  showed  himself 
always  the  faithful  Abdiel,  true  to  his  trust  whoever 
else  might  fail.  Devotion  such  as  this  merited  return. 


266  THE  MEDICI  AND 

Giovanni  always  had  a  deep  affection  for  his  cousin, 
and  placed  great  reliance  upon  his  judgment.  On  the 
restoration  of  the  family  to  their  honours  in  Florence, 
he  assigned  to  Giulio  and  to  his  own  brother  Giuliano 
the  temporary  government  of  the  city.  Finally,  after 
his  elevation  to  the  Papacy,  as  soon  as  he  conveniently 
could,  without  laying  himself  open  to  the  charge  of 
seeking  to  aggrandise  his  own  house,  he  raised  Giulio 
to  the  rank  of  cardinal,  and  thus  gave  him  the  stepping- 
stone  to  the  Papacy. 

Giulio's  life  prior  to  becoming  pontiff  was  simple  in 
the  extreme.  He  was  more  of  an  ascetic  even  than 
Leo.  His  piety  was  deep  and  sincere,  his  morals 
irreproachable.  Letters  and  the  arts  found  in  him 
a  true  Medici,  his  patronage  of  them  being  liberal  and 
enlightened.1  In  some  respects  he  was  a  more  dis- 
criminating patron  than  his  cousin.  Leo  often  gave 
of  his  bounty  to  most  unworthy  beneficiaries,  Giulio 
never.  He  always  satisfied  himself  of  the  merit  of  the 
individual  before  he  opened  his  purse. 

In  the  collation  and  annotation  of  the  classic  texts, 
and  particularly  of  Plautus,  Terence,  Cicero,  Horace, 
and  Juvenal  in  Latin  and  Homer,  Euripides  and  Plato 
in  Greek,  he  showed  a  keen  interest,  seeking  to  infuse 
into  Lilius  Giraldus,  Celio  Calcagnini,  Valeriaiius, 
Trissino,  Bembo,  Sadoleto,  and  others  that  enthusiasm 
which  burned  so  brightly  in  his  own  breast.  During 
the  last  days  of  Leo's  pontificate,  he  was  regarded  as 
one  of  the  wisest,  most  reliable  and  earnest-minded  of 
all  the  cardinal-patrons  of  letters  in  Rome.  Nay, 
during  the  terrible  twenty  months  of  Adrian's  rule, 
when  learning  was  at  a  discount,  and  when,  in  place  of 
1  Muratori,  x. ;  Paris  de  Grassis,  Diar.  uiedit. 


THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE        267 

men  of  letters  and  artists,  one  found  none  but  shave- 
lings and  preaching  friars  in  the  Vatican,  he  was  the 
sole  hope  of  the  Humanists  of  Rome.  His  palace  was 
ever  open  to  men  of  real  scholarship  or  learning ;  but 
upon  the  charlatan  pretenders  to  a  culture  they  did 
not  possess,  his  wit  flashed  forth  without  fail  in 
withering  shafts  of  sarcasm. 

Although  the  pontificate  of  Clement  vn.  lasted  from 
1523  to  1534,  the  sole  period  of  interest  to  us  is  that 
portion  of  it  from  his  election  to  the  Papal  Chair  to 
the  Sack  of  Rome  in  1527.  With  that  terrible  retribu- 
tion on  the  gay  and  godless  city,  that  had  battened  on 
the  superstition  and  credulity  of  Christendom  for  so 
long,  the  Italian  Renaissance  reaches  its  close.  When 
the  troops  of  Charles  v.  and  Frundsberg's  "Pious 
Landsknechts  "  were  bought  off  from  the  Eternal  City, 
they  left  behind  them  little  better  than  a  pile  of  ruins. 
Learning  had  for  ever  taken  her  flight  across  the  Alps, 
and  Rome  henceforward  was  to  be  regarded,  not  as  the 
centre  of  European  culture,  but  merely  as  the  seat  of 
the  Head  of  the  Roman  Hierarchy,  as  the  spiritual 
metropolis  of  one  of  the  sects  of  the  world's  religions. 

When  Clement  began  his  pontificate,  a  feeling  of 
restless  apprehension  had  taken  possession  of  Europe. 
That  the  political  atmosphere  was  heavily  charged 
with  the  electric  fluid  of  international  disturbances 
was  apparent  to  every  observer  of  the  signs  of  the 
times.  Had  he  been  a  strong,  self-reliant  nature  like 
Pope  Julius  II.,  or  even  a  selfish  man  like  Sixtus  iv., 
he  could  have  beaten  Charles  V.  with  his  own  weapons, 
and  perhaps  have  effected  a  new  shuffle  of  the  cards  as 
to  who  should  hold  the  chief  power  in  Europe.  But 
Clement  was  handicapped  by  his  loyalty  to  Leo.  He 


268  THE  MEDICI  AND 

wished  to  pursue  his  cousin's  policy,  therefore  he 
hedged  and  doubled,  now  promising,  anon  breaking 
his  promises,  striving  to  please  and  humour  all,  and 
ending  by  displeasing  and  alienating  everyone,  even 
his  friends  the  Humanists. 

Clement  was  a  vacillating,  courtly,  cultured  man, 
with  all  the  instincts  of  a  scholar  in  him,  and  with 
a  thorough  detestation  of  the  game  of  politics  he  was 
daily  obliged  to  play.  Adequately  to  master  the 
situation,  would  have  taxed  the  genius  of  a  Gregory 
VII.  or  an  Innocent  III.,  and  Clement  vii.  was  but  a 
pious,  well-meaning  lover  of  letters,  to  whom  the 
collation  of  a  new  codex  of  Pliny  with  the  textus 
receptus  would  have  been  a  task  infinitely  more  to 
his  mind  than  that  of  fighting  the  foes  of  the  Church. 

During  those  four  years  between  his  election  and  the 
Sack  of  Rome,  he  did  all  he  could  towards  the  foster- 
ing of  literature.  The  Roman  Sapienza  or  University 
received  a  large  share  of  his  patronage,  even  as  it  had 
received  a  large  share  of  that  of  Leo.  He  divided  it 
into  a  Gymnasium  or  High-School  and  the  Sapienza 
or  University,  the  former  designed  to  act  as  a  feeder 
to  the  latter.  To  men  of  letters  outside  the  clerical 
orders  he  was  exceedingly  liberal ;  while  to  those  who 
devoted  themselves  to  literature  within  the  Church  he 
was  quick  to  manifest  his  appreciation  of  worthy 
work.  Paulus  Jovius  was  consecrated  by  him  Bishop 
of  Nocera,  and  Marcus  Musurus,  Bishop  of  Malvasia. 
To  Vida,  the  author  of  the  Christiad,  he  assigned  the 
See  of  Alba  in  Piedmont ;  to  Giberti,  the  Stylist,  that 
of  Verona.  To  name  all  the  scholars  and  ecclesiastics 
who  had  made  their  name  in  literature,  to  whom  he 
either  gave  preferment  or  raised  to  the  purple,  would 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE        269 

be  impossible.  During  these  four  years  of  his  pontifi- 
cate, prior  to  the  Sack  of  Rome,  he  won  for  himself  the 
reputation  of  a  discriminating  Maecenas,  though  some 
of  the  fustian  poets  and  rhodomontade  dramatists  were 
inclined  to  complain  that  he  neglected  them,  when  Leo 
would  probably  have  listened  to  their  lays  and  given 
them  a  few  gold  pieces  to  get  rid  of  them.1 

The  Roman  Academy  was  patronised  by  him,  although 
he  was  only  present  at  one  of  its  meetings  when  it 
assembled  in  the  gardens  of  the  Vatican.  Angelo 
Colocci,  who  had  been  Leo's  private  secretary,  a  man 
of  rare  culture  and  a  peerless  Grecian;  Blosius 
Palladius,  a  Latin  poet  of  considerable  merit,  and 
an  Italian  sonnet- writer  of  some  reputation;  Egidio 
Canisio,  the  General  of  the  Augustinian  Order; 
Andreas  Fulvio  and  Bartolommeo  Marliano,  whose 
studies  of  Vitruvius  and  Frontinus  and  of  the  archi- 
tectural remains  of  the  ancients  made  them  the  greatest 
antiquarians  of  their  age;  and  Alessandro  Farnese 
(afterwards  Paul  in.),  were  the  principal  members  of 
the  Academy,  and  in  consequence  those  who  were 
admitted  to  close  intimacy  with  the  Pope.2  The 
social  circle  around  Clement  was  much  the  same  as 
that  which  had  gathered  round  his  cousin,  seeing  that 
only  twenty  months  separated  their  pontificates.  His 
reception-rooms  and  ante-chambers  were  filled  with 
scholars  and  men  of  letters,  churchmen  and  artists, 
soldiers  and  doctors  of  the  law,  wealthy  bankers  and 
physicians,  nobles  and  commoners,  meeting  all  together 
in  that  strange  heterogeneous  crowd  which,  as  in  Leo's 
days,  seemed  to  be  gathered  from  every  nation  and 

1  Cf.  Fabronius,  Vita  Leon  X.,  p.  204  ;  Jovian,  Vita  Leon  X.,  iv.  80. 

2  Mosheim,  Ecclcsias.  Hist.,  bk.  iv.,  Cent.  xvi. 


270  THE  MEDICI  AND 

town  in  Europe.  Verily  a  marvellous  if  withal  a 
somewhat  motley  multitude,  whose  one  bond  of  union 
was  love  of  culture  and  of  the  arts. 

Such  too  continued  to  be  the  character  of  Clement's 
receptions,  even  after  the  pontiff  had  certain  know- 
ledge that  there  had  begun  to  roll  towards  Rome  that 
awful  tide  of  Spanish  barbarism  and  ferocity,  of 
Flemish  ignorance  and  bigotry,  and  of  German  hatred 
of  Italian  duplicity — all  of  them  attributes  and  passions 
incarnate  in  the  host  of  Charles  V.  —  which  was  ere 
long  to  be  let  loose  upon  the  hapless  people  of  Rome. 
To  tell  the  story  of  the  sack  of  that  beautiful  city  is  to 
relate  the  history  of  the  blackest  crime  which  disgraced 
the  career  of  Charles  V.  After  making  all  possible 
allowances  for  him,  due  to  the  vacillation  and  duplicity 
of  Clement  acting  upon  a  spirit  naturally  impetuous, 
but  whose  one  sterling  attribute  was  his  abhorrence  of 
falsehood,  a  frightful  balance  of  blame  rests  on  the  head 
of  Charles.  Doubtless,  were  all  known,  he  had  given 
instructions  to  the  Constable  of  Bourbon  or  George  von 

o 

Frundsberg,  the  leader  of  the  "  Pious  Landsknechts  " l 
that  Clement  was  only  to  be  frightened  into  submis- 
sion, and  then  the  army  was  to  be  called  off.  But 
Frundsberg  was  stricken  down  by  paralysis  on  the 
plains  of  Milan,  and  Bourbon  was  shot  at  the  very 
outset  of  the  attack  upon  the  Eternal  City.2  There- 
after that  horde  of  fiends  in  the  form  of  men  were 

1  Van  Dyke  tells  us  that  the  original  members  of  these  mercenary 
bands  had  been  the  military  retainers  of  the  knights,  whose  employ- 
ment had   been  lost  by  the  decay  of  the  feudal  system.     They  had 
developed  a  loose  organisation,  bound  by  unwritten  laws.     Cf.  Age  of 
the  Renascence,  p.  369. 

2  Benvenuto  Cellini  used  to  boast  he  had  aimed  and  fired  the  cannon 
whose  shot  killed  the  Constable. 


THE   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE         271 

leaderless,  for  the  Prince  of  Orange  was  powerless. 
Home  fell  after  two  days'  resistance.  Of  what  followed 
humanity  shudders  as  it  thinks  of  it.  For  nine  months 
the  soldiers  of  the  attacking  force  rioted  and  wallowed 
in  every  kind  of  iniquity,  cruelty,  bestiality,  and  sacri- 
lege. Relics  the  rarest,  literary  treasures  the  most 
priceless,  paintings  by  the  old  masters,  as  unique  as 
they  were  exquisite,  were  crushed  under  foot  or  tossed 
into  the  flames. 

"  When  the  soldiers  were  through,  it  was  said  that  no  one 
over  three  years  was  left  alive,  unless  their  lives  were  bought 
by  ransom.  A  certain  bishop  bought  himself  three  times,  and 
at  last  was  murdered.  The  prisoners  were  dragged  about  with 
ropes  to  beg  ransom  from  their  friends,  like  Cardinal  Cajetan, 
who  was  hauled  and  kicked  through  the  streets  until  he  had 
collected  what  his  captors  demanded.  When  the  money  was 
not  to  be  had,  came  torture.  .  .  .  Nothing  was  sacred  to  the 
crowd  of  Spaniards,  Germans,  and  Italians  drunk  with  wine, 
lust,  and  blood.  They  stabled  their  horses  in  the  chapels  of 
St.  Peter's,  broke  open  and  plundered  the  coffin  of  Julius  n., 
played  dice  on  the  high  altar,  and  got  drunk  out  of  the  vessels 
of  the  mass.  ...  In  one  of  the  market-places  drunken  soldiers 
tried  to  force  a  poor  priest  to  give  the  consecrated  host  to  an 
ass,  and  he  died  under  their  torture.  So  the  smoke  of  Rome's 
agony  went  up  to  heaven,  and  the  long  hoarded  riches  of  her 
luxurious  palaces  became  the  spoil  of  the  cruel  soldiers  of 
Spain  and  Germany.  The  booty  was  reckoned  conserva- 
tively at  over  eight  millions ;  some  put  it  as  high  as  twenty 
millions." l 

Against  the  scholars  and  Humanists  of  Rome  the  rage 
of  these  northern  barbarians  was  especially  directed, 

1  Van  Dyke,  Age  of  the  Renascence  ("Eras  of  the  Christian  Church 
Series."  T.  &  T.  Clark). 


272  THE  MEDICI  AND 

and  scarcely  one  of  those  men  of  letters  who  had  been 
the  pride  and  the  glory  of  Rome,  and  whose  devotion 
to  the  cause  of  the  Revival  of  Learning  had  been  so 
ceaseless  and  whole-hearted,  remained  to  tell  the 
horrors  of  the  hour.  When  Clement  VII.,  the  last  of 
the  Renaissance  Medici,  after  watching  in  heart-broken 
anguish  from  the  castle  of  St.  Angelo,  whither  he  had 
fled  for  refuge,  the  progress  of  the  pillage,  and  hearing 
the  shrieks  of  women  outraged  and  murdered,  and  of 
hapless  infants  tossed  in  the  air  to  be  spitted  on  a 
"pious"  landsknecht's  spear  as  they  descended,  con- 
sented to  buy  off  the  butchers  for  400,000  florins,  the 
Rome  of  Poggio  and  of  Platina,  of  Sixtus  and  of  Alex- 
ander, of  Leo  and  of  Pomponazzo,  of  Blondus,  Alberti, 
and  of  Raphael  had  become  a  thing  of  the  past.  When 
she  recovered  from  her  sorrow  and  her  desolation,  it  was 
to  enter  upon  a  new  career,  dictated  by  a  new  policy. 
Humanism  and  the  days  and  ways  of  the  Humanists, 
their  semi-pagan  morality  and  their  entirely  pagan 
beliefs,  their  contempt  of  all  that  did  not  savour  of 
antiquity,  had  given  place  to  a  truer  scholarship  which 
weighed  calmly  and  dispassionately  the  claims  of  an- 
tiquity to  inspire  the  Present,  and  which  insisted  upon 
classicism  being  estimated  according  to  its  utility,  and 
not  according  to  the  superstitious  reverence  wherewith 
it  had  become  invested  by  the  fictions  of  romantic 
imagination. 

The  first  stirrings  of  the  Counter-Reformation  in  the 
Roman  Church  were  beginning  to  make  themselves 
felt.  Although  Clement  continued  a  true  Medicean  to 
the  end  of  his  days,  he  realised  that  Humanism  was 
played  out  in  Italy.  "  The  Germans  have  carried  away 
learning  along  with  our  other  treasures  across  the  Alps," 


THE  ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE        273 

he  said,  somewhat  sadly  to  Aleander.  The  courtly- 
cardinal,  as  the  story  goes,  attempted  to  turn  a  compli- 
ment that  wheresover  a  Medicean  Pope  might  be,  there 
was  culture  incarnate.  But  Clement  shook  his  head. 
"  The  Papacy  has  nearly  lost  her  hold  on  Europe  by 
playing  the  patron  of  letters ;  if  she  is  to  regain  her 
ground,  it  must  be  along  intensely  spiritual,  not  in- 
tellectual, lines."1 

Clement  was  by  no  means  the  worst  of  the  Medici. 
Stained  though  his  memory  is  by  the  fact  that  he 
utilised  the  remains  of  the  army  which  sacked  Rome 
to  capture  and  enslave  Florence,  which  had  once  more 
made  a  glorious  bid  for  freedom  under  Francesco  Fer- 
ruccio,  he  was  more  the  victim  of  a  hard  taskmaster 
in  the  person  of  Charles  v.  than  a  man  consciously 
and  of  design  a  lover  of  oppression.  The  emperor 
wished  Northern  Italy  to  be  in  the  hands  of  a  prince 
whose  devotion  to  Spanish  interests  would  be  beyond 
question.  He  proposed  to  Clement  to  assist  him  to 
regain  possession  of  Florence  on  these  conditions.  And 
so  the  Medici  became  dejure  as  well  as  de  facto  rulers 
of  Florence,  never  again  to  lose  their  power  until  the 
line  became  extinct. 

Had  Clement  remained  a  Humanist  cardinal,  his 
name  probably  would  have  passed  down  to  posterity 
as  that  of  a  man  whose  passionate  devotion  to  letters, 
the  arts,  and  sciences  was  worthy  of  all  praise.  In 
place  of  that,  the  commendation  that  ought  to  follow 
his  noble  patronage  of  learning  is  lost  in  a  bitter  pas- 
sion of  contempt  for  the  man  who,  despite  all  the 
legacy  of  troubles  he  received  as  a  bequest  from  Leo, 

iBellarmin,  Op.,  torn.  iii.  p.  940;  cf.   Pet.  Mart.,  Loc.  Com.,  Class 


iii.  c.  xi. 

18 


274  THE  MEDICI  AND 

must  nevertheless  by  his  vacillation  be  held  as  the 
proximate  cause  of  the  Sack  of  Rome  and  of  the  extinc- 
tion of  letters  in  Italy.  He  had  been  trained  to  consider 
dissimulation  as  the  prime  requisite  of  a  diplomatist. 
But  vacillation  and  hesitation  are  fatal  qualities  for 
those  who  in  diplomacy  would  excel  in  dissimula- 
tion. The  chief  quality  in  the  character  of  him  who 
was  perhaps  the  greatest  master  of  dissimulation 
modern  Europe  has  seen,  Cardinal  de  Richelieu,  was 
iron  inflexibility  of  purpose  under  all  the  turns  and 
doubles  in  the  tortuous  "course"  of  politics.  Had 
Charles  V.  found  Clement  constant  even  in  his  op- 
position to  himself,  the  fact  is  more  than  likely, 
Rome  never  would  have  suffered.  It  was  the  help- 
lessness of  not  knowing  whither  Clement's  vacillation 
would  lead  him,  that  decided  the  emperor  upon  letting 
slip  the  dogs  of  war  upon  the  Papacy,  in  order  to 
terrify  "the  old  man  of  the  Vatican"  into  abject  sub- 
mission. 

Such  is  the  story  of  the  relation  of  the  Medici  to  the 
Italian  Renaissance.  With  all  its  romance  and  fascina- 
tion, it  is  a  mingled  web  of  good  and  ill.  While,  on  the 
one  side,  it  is  the  story  of  noble  devotion  to  worthy 
ends ;  on  the  other,  it  is  a  record  of  shame  and  political 
betrayal.  From  the  death  of  Giovanni,  the  father  of 
Cosimo,  to  the  Sack  of  Rome,  a  period  of  exactly  a 
century  intervenes.  During  that  time  the  Medici 
family,  one  and  all,  manifested  themselves  as  amongst 
the  truest  patrons  of  letters  the  world  has  known.  Had 
they  chosen  to  spend  upon  unworthy  pleasures  the  sums 
they  devoted  to  fostering  scholarship  and  learning,  how 
great  would  have  been  the  world's  loss  to-day  ?  Granted 
they  did  much  that  was  worthy  of  moral  reprobation, 


THE  ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE        275 

much  also  that  was  politically  contemptible,  does 
the  fact  that  as  regards  the  Renaissance  they  were 
the  most  munificent  and  devoted  of  patrons  in  the 
history  of  letters  go  for  naught  as  a  countervailing 
plea? 

By  whom  is  the  mighty  balance  to  be  struck  ?     In 
even  the  best  of  them  we  admit  that  the  warp  of  intel- 
lectual good  and  of  lofty  self-sacrifice  in  the  develop- 
ment of  learning  is  vitiated  by  the  woof  of  political 
self-seeking,   degrading    oppression    of    liberty-loving 
patriots,   like   Palla    degli   Strozzi,   a    Humanist   like 
themselves,  and  of  persistent  pandering   to  the  worst 
passions  that  can  find  harbour  in  the  human  breast. 
They  were  a  strange  mixture  of  the  grand  and  of  the 
grovelling,  of  the  mean  and  of  the  magnanimous.     As 
Humanists  no  praise  is  too  high  for  their  deserts,  as 
politicians  no  condemnation  is  too  deep  to  denounce 
their  perfidy.     By  whom,  we  repeat,  is  the  nett  bal- 
ance to  be  struck  of  blessing  or  of  blame  ?     Even  time, 
the  touchstone  of  all  things,  has  left  the  verdict  in 
abeyance  as  to  how  much  of  their  wrong-doing  was 
due  to  faults  of  hereditary  temperament,  and  how  much 
to  vices  induced  by  their  time.     Were  they  responsible 
for  all  attributed  to  them,  or  were  they  the  victims  of 
circumstance,  the  scapegoats  of  subordinates  who  had 
exceeded   their   instructions?      Were   they  fully  con- 
scious, moreover,  of  all  their  policy  implied,  and  of  its 
ultimate  as  well  as  its  proximate  consequences  ?     The 
moral  quality  of  definite  action  we  can  estimate,  but 
who   can   appraise  the  effect  on  the  mind  of  a  noble 
purpose  that  has  been  frustrated,  or  a  good  intention 
that  has  miscarried  ?     Are  results  always  the  measure 
of  the  motives  that  prompted  special  lines  of  action  ? 


276    MEDICI  AND   ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 

If  so,  success  will  alone  have  ethical  value,  and  Burns 
was  all  wrong  when  he  wrote — 

o 

"  What's  done  we  partly  may  compute, 
But  ken  na  what's  resisted." 

Men  may  propose,  but  they  cannot  dispose,  and  the 
Medici  were  but  men.  Their  fault  was  persistently 
to  underrate  the  magnitude  of  the  forces  opposed  to 
them.  Goethe  seems  to  pierce  to  the  very  heart  of  the 
case  as  it  affects  the  Medici  when  he  says — 

"  Glilcklich,  wer  den  Fehlschuss  von  seinem  Wiln- 
schen  auf  seine  Krafte  bald  gewahr  wird — Happy  the 
man  who  early  learns  the  wide  chasm  that  lies  between 
his  purposes  and  his  powers  ! " 


INDEX 


ABELARD,  14. 
Academies,  epoch  of,  91. 
Academy,  Greek,  155. 
Acciaiuoli,  Agnolo,  77,  123. 
Accolti,  Benedetto,  128. 
Accolti,  Bernardo,  245. 
Adrian  vi.     See  Cardinal  Tortosa. 
^neas    Sylvius    (Pope    n.),    112, 

136,  223. 
^schylus,  172. 
Africa,  49. 

Agricola  (musician),  190. 
Alamanni,  Luigi,  248. 
Albergati,  Cardinal,  99,  100. 
Alberoni,  Cardinal,  139. 
Alberti,  Leo  Battista,  105,  113,  128, 

141,  169,  184,  188,  192. 
Alberti,  the,  23,  24. 
Albizzi,  Maso  degli,  24,  58,  67. 
Albizzi,  Rinaldo  degli,  51,  58,  63, 

66,  67,  72,  73,  79,  86. 
Albizzi,    the    (Party),    11,    23,    25, 

27,  31,  44,  51,  58,  63,  72. 
Aldus   Manutius   (the   Aldi),  153, 

237. 

Aleandcr,  Girolamo,  256. 
Alexandrian  literature,  46. 
Alfonso,  Duke  of  Calabria,  137,  151. 


Alfonso  of  Aragon,  57,  81,  99,  133, 


142. 

Alopa,  Francesco  de,  237. 
Ambrogio,  237 

"  Ammianus  Marcellinus,"  55. 
Ammoniti,  Law  of,  22. 
Amurath  n.,  Sultan,  69. 


Angelico,  Fra  (Guido),  120. 
Angelo,  Michael.     See  Buonarotti. 
Anghiari,  victory  of,  77. 
Anselm,  14. 
Appian,  101. 
Aquinas,  Thomas,  174. 
Aretino,  Pietro,  232,  258. 
Ariosto,  234,  236,  247. 
Aristotle,    71,    98,    101,   111,   128, 

133,  249. 
Arras,  118. 
"Arti,"  the,  10,  20. 
Argyropoulos,  John,  113,  133,  194. 
"  Asconius  Pedianus,"  55. 
Asia  Minor,  49. 
Asolani,  153. 
Athens,  85,  141. 
Augurelli,  240. 
Aurispa,  7,  8,  46,  90. 
"Authority,"  4,  8. 
Averroes,  185. 
Avicenna,  185. 
Avignon,  6. 

BABYLONIAN  Exile  of  the  Church, 

the,  6. 

Bacon,  Roger,  174. 
Badia,  cloisters  of  the,  118. 
Bagnolo,  peace  of,  161. 


"Baily,"  the  Venetian,  69. 

Balia,  65,  79. 

Bandello,  234,  258. 

Bandinelli,  Baccio,  259. 

Barbaro,   Ermolao,   155,  180,   199, 

212. 
277 


278 


INDEX 


Barbaro,  Francesco,  38,  39. 
Barbi,   Cardinal  Pietro  (Paul  n.), 

129,  212. 

Barziza,  Gasparino  da,  90. 
Batrachomy&machia,  the,  96. 
Bavaria,  Duke  of,  50. 
Beaufort,  Cardinal,  114. 
Becchi,  Gentile,  133,  203. 
Bejazet,  the  Sultan,  37,  38. 
Bembo,  Pietro,  76,  156,  180,  215, 

224,  235,  237,  239,  246. 
Benci,  Tommaso,  113. 
Benzio,  Trifone,  243. 
Berni,  234. 

Beroaldo,  Filippo,  215. 
Bessavion,  Cardinal,  8,  82,  84. 
Bianchi,  the,  10. 

Bibiena,  Bernardo  da.    See  Dovizi. 
Bigio,  Francia,  259. 
Boccaccio,  6,  45,  104. 
Boiardo,  142. 
Boniface  viu.,  Pope,  172. 
Boniface  ix.,  Pope,  37,  114. 
Borgia,   Cardinal  (Pope  Alexander 

vi.),  212,  233. 
Bosphorus,  the,  6. 
Botticelli,  Sandro,  188,  259. 
Bracciolini,  Poggio.     See  Poggio. 
Bramante,  258. 
Bruges,  119. 

Brunelleschi,  104,  118,  189. 
Bruni,  Lionardo,  7,  33,  38,  39,  46, 

53,  56,  85,  (life)  93,  94,  113. 
Buchanan,  George,  195. 
Budaeus,  183. 
Buffalmacco,  104. 
Buildings,  Cosimo's,  117,  118. 
Buonarroti,  Michael  Angelo,    141, 

188,  259. 

Buondelmonte,  Cristoforo,  116. 
Busch,  Hermann  von,  227. 
Byzantine  Empire,  3,  6,  7,  16,  80, 

84. 

CABBALA,  the,  197. 
Csesarius,  Johann,  227. 
Caesars,  the,  5. 
Calendar,  reformation  of,  251. 
Callimachus,  237. 


Cambio,  Arnolfo  del,  104. 
Camaldolese  Discussions,  193. 
Campaldino,  battle  of,  20. 
Canisio,  Egidio,  257,  269. 
Cantucci,  Andrea,  259. 
Capponi,  Gino,  19. 
Careggi,  the  villa,  50,  84,  92,  110, 

118. 

Casaubon,  183. 

Castagna,  Andrea  del,  120,  187. 
Castiglioue,   Baldassare,   202,   234, 

252. 

Catasto,  the,  26,  27. 
Catullus,  153. 
Cavalcanti,  Giovanni,  113. 
Cavriana,  peace  of,  77. 
Celtes.  Conrad,  227,  228. 
Cennini,  Bernardino,  130,  152, 180. 
Cercbi,  the,  10. 

Chalcondylas,  Demetrius,  166,  204. 
Charlemagne,  19. 
Charles  v.,  Emperor,  33,  143,  231, 

232,  263,  267. 

Charles  vm.  (of  France),  140-142. 
Chigi,  Agostino,  225. 
China,  36. 
Christ,  16,  231. 
Christiad,  the,  235,  241,  268. 
Chrysoloras,  John,  69. 
Chrysoloras,  Manuel   or   Emanuel, 

7,    8,    17,    37,    38,    44,    85,    90, 

94. 

Cicero,  33,  39,  46,  55,  71,  266. 
Ciceronianism,  the  fashion  of,  157, 

180,  235,  239. 
Cimabue,  104. 
Ciompi,  tumult  of,  21. 
Ciriaoo,  7,  92,  116. 
Colocci,  Angelo,  215,  269. 
Colonna,  Marc  Antonio,  217. 
Colonna,  Cardinal  Otto  (Martin  V.) 

50,  54,  55,  57,  79. 
Columbus,  25. 
Columella,  55. 

Constance,  Council  of,  7,  50,  57. 
Constantino,  Donation  of,  173  n. 
Constantinople,  3,  6,  7,  8,  38,  45, 

46,  58,  113. 
Cortesi,  Paolo,  155,  215. 


INDEX 


279 


Cosimo,  Piero  de',  188. 
"Cosimo's      tigurehead"       (Luca 

Pitti),  125. 
Cossa,    Cardinal    Balthazar    (Pope 

John  XXIH.  deposed),  50,  57. 
Courtier,  The  Book  of  the,  252. 
Credi,  Lorenzo  di,  188. 
Cretensis,  Demetrius,  166. 
Crusade,  the  First,  149. 
Curia,  Roman,  7. 
Cybo,Cardinal(Pope  Innocent  vni.), 

142,  161,  204. 

DANTE,  35,  71,  104,  193. 

Dark  Ages,  the,  36. 

Decembrio,  Piero  Candido,  101. 

Delia  Robbia,  35,  187. 

Delli,  Dello,  119. 

Despres,  Josquin,  121,  190. 

Didot,  46  (n.). 

Dieci,  the,  30,  62. 

Diogenes  Laertius,  95. 

Dioscorides,  252. 

"  Distemper,"  painting  in,  187. 

Donati,  the,  10,  51,  65. 

Donato,  Hieronymo,  155. 

Dovizi,     Bernardo    (otherwise    da 

Bibicna),  204,  215,  222,  258. 
Dunbar,  William,  199. 


EGINETA,  Petrns,  204. 

Egypt,  36. 

Kliot,  George,  48,  60. 

England,  103. 

Engraving  on  copper,  259. 

Epistolw  Obscurorum  Virorum,  43, 

230. 

Erasmus,  195,  214,  227,  235,  239. 
Este,   Ercole  d',   Duke  of  Ferrara, 

148,  159. 
Eugenikos,     Marcus     (Bishop     of 

Ephesus),  82. 
Eugenius  IV.,  Pope  (Orsim),  66,  79, 

80. 

Euripides,  172,  237,  266. 
Eutyches,  55. 

FABRONHTS,  41. 
Faerno,  Gabriello.  243. 


Farnese,  Alessandro,  Cardinal  (Paul 

in.),  141,  268. 
Favorino,  Guarino,  215,  237. 
Federigo  of  Naples,  151,  185. 
Feltre,  Vittoriuo  da.    See  Vittorino. 
Ferrante    (Ferdinand)    of    Naples, 

137,  144,  149,  159. 
Ferrara,  8,  64,  73,  97,  159,  162. 
Ferrara,  Council  of,  82. 
Festus,  Pompeius,  47. 
Ficino,    Marsiglio,   14,   33,  40,  41, 
108,  109,  133,  136,  141,  168,  183, 
197,  203. 

Fiesole,  Mino  da,  188. 
Filelfo,   7,   8,   39,  46,   (life)  68-75, 

85,  96,  114,  129,  148,  173. 
"Flaccus,"  55. 
"Flavius  Caper,"  55. 
Flaminio,  Marc  Antonio,  243. 
Florence,  cathedral  of  (Duomo),  104. 
Florence,  Council  of,  82. 
Florence,  its  machinery  of  govern- 
ment, 51. 

Florence  (or  Valdarno),  2,  7,  11,  3/, 
39  44,  49,  61,  64,  75,  77,  114, 
129,  137,  144,  151,  162,  182,  192, 
196. 

Foix,  Gaston  de,  218. 
Forced  loans  introduced  by  Albizzi, 

24. 

Forteguerra,  Scipione,  238. 
Fracastorio,  Girolamo,  242,  251. 
France,  103,  164,  231. 
Francia,  Marc- Antonio  di,  259. 
Francis  I.,  33,  262. 
Franco,  Matteo,  199. 
Frescobaldi,  Battista,  158. 
Froben  of  Basle,  153. 
Frontinus,  55,  2C9. 
Frundsberg,  George  von,  232,  270. 


GALL,  St.,  47. 

Gallo,    San   (Giuliano    Giamberti), 

189. 

Gama,  Vasco  da,  37. 
Garnett,  Dr.  R.,'6. 
Gastone,  Grand  Duke  of,  232. 
Gauls,  the,  15. 
Gem  engraving,  189. 


280 


INDEX 


Germany,  103,  214,  227,  230,  256 

270. 

Ghent,  119. 

Ghibellines,  the,  10,  20. 
Ghiberti,  104,  189,  267. 
Giaber,  185. 
Giotto,  6,  35,  104,  105. 
Giunti  of  Rome,  153. 
Goa,  37. 
Goths,  the,  15. 

"  Government  by  cat's-paw,"  77. 
Gozzoli,  Benozzo,  120. 
Gracchi,  the,  5. 
Grandi,  the,  or  nobles,  10,  20. 
Gratius,  Ortuinus,  230. 
Greece,  36,  49. 
Greek,  study  of,  6. 
Gregory,  Pope,  vir.,  5,  172,  267. 
Gregory,  Pope,  ix.,  172. 
Gregory,  Pope,  XL,  6. 
Gregory,  Pope,  xm.,  251. 
Grocyn,  166,  181. 
Grote,  172. 

Guadagni,  Bernardo,  64. 
Guarino  da  Verona,   7,  8,   39,   40, 

46,  90,  115. 
Guelfs,  the,  10,  20. 
Guicciardini,  253. 
Guido.     See  Fra  Angelico. 

HAARLEM,  130. 

Hebraic  culture,  15,  95,  97,  98,  256. 
Hebrew  theocracy,  13,  14. 
Hellenic  culture,  6,  7,  13,  14,  15, 

37,  44,  46,  84,  85,  171,  186,  234, 

256. 

Herford,  Professor  C.  H.,  228. 
Herodotus,  101. 
Hessus,  Eobamis,  227. 
Hildebrand  (Gregory  vn.),  5. 
Homer,  7,  96,  166,  266. 
Hoogenstraten,  43,  230. 
Horace,  14,  71,  193,  266. 
Humanism,  10,  36,  41,  63,  67,  86, 

90,  91,  129,  171,  227,  231,  272. 
Humanists,  the,  39,  41,  43,  56,  67, 

68,    83,    86,    93,   113,    114,   129, 

133,    141,    150,    169,    195,    226, 

227,  229,  241,  266,  271. 


Hungary,  57. 

Huns,  the,  15. 

Huss,  John,  57. 

Hutten,  Ulrich  von,  228,  229. 

IDEAL  of  Beauty  in  Art,  4. 

Ideal  of  Duty  in  conduct,  4. 

Iliad,  the,  96. 

Imola,  146. 

Improvvisatori,  244. 

India,  36. 

Inghirami,  Tomaso  Fedra,  256. 

Innocent  in.,  5,  267. 

Innocent  vni.     See  Cardinal  Cybo. 

Ippolyta,   Maria    (of  Milan),    137, 

151. 

Isaak,  Heinrich,  190. 
Isidore,  Bishop  (of  Russia),  82. 
Italian  literature,  116,  154,  196. 
Italicus,  Silius,  55. 

JEROME,  St.,  169. 
Jerome  of  Prague,  57. 
John  xxin.,  Pope.    See  Cossa. 
John  of  Maintz,  130,  152. 
Jovius,  Paulus,  253,  268. 
Juvenal,  14,  266. 

KALLISTOS,       Andronicos,       113, 

194. 

Keduk,  Achmed,  151. 
Rollins,  the,  230. 
Kydonios,  Demetrius,  37. 

L.ETUS,  Pomponius,  141. 
Ladislas  of  Naples,  69. 
Laudsknechts,  Pious,  267,  270. 
Landino  Cristoforo,  76,   113,   133, 

139,    141,    153,   183,   (life)   194, 

203,  212. 
Lavga,  Via,  86. 
Lascaris,  Giovanni,  155,  237. 
Levant,  the,  49. 
Lanacre,  166,  181. 
,ippi,  Filippo,  120,  187. 
jivy,  71. 

.odi,  Treaty  of,  31,  90,  91. 
jornbardo,  Girolamo,  259. 
jorraine,  Duke  of,  161. 


INDEX 


281 


Louis  of  Anjou,  57. 
Louis  XL,  142,  203. 
Lucca,  104. 
Lucretius,  55. 
Luther,  226,  229,  256. 
Lyra,  De,  15. 

MACARONIC  verse,  249. 

Maclriavelli,  27,  28,  65,  234, 
253. 

Magnus,  Albertus,  174. 

Maiauo,  Benedetto  da,  189. 

Maintz,  130. 

Majolica- work,  189. 

Malatesta,  Ruberto,  159,  161. 

Malavolti,  Federigo,  65. 

Manetti,  Gianozzo,  7,  38,  53,  85, 
(life)  97,  101,  129. 

Manilius,  55. 

Mantegna,  Andrea,  259. 

Mantua,  74. 

Markolf,  228. 

Marsigli,  Luigi,  39,  40,  56,  87. 

Marsuppini,  Carlo,  38,  53,  56, 
71,  85,  (life)  96,  113,  115, 
173. 

Martin  V.,  Pope.     See  Colouna. 

Manilius,  Michael,  175,  180,  198. 

Masaccio,  I'^O. 

Massa,  Antonio  da,  116. 

Matthew,  Hebrew  Gospel  of,  100. 

Maximilian,  Emperor,  142. 

Mazarin,  Cardinal,  139,  143. 

Medici,  Cosimo  :  early  aims,  3,  7, 
11,  13  ;  the  influence  of  the 
Renaissance  spirit  on  him,  29  ; 
never  desired  to  rise  from  the 
status  of  a  burgher,  29  ;  early 
caught  by  the  glamour  of  the 
Renaissance,  35  ;  his  early 
teachers,  40  ;  devotion  to  study, 
41  ;  the  bent  of  his  mind,  42  ; 
enters  banking-house,  43  ;  known 
as  a  patron  of  letters  long  before 
he  was  recognised  as  a  politician, 
44  ;  his  assistance  to  Humanists, 
46  ;  collecting  MS.  and  relics  of 
antiquity,  49  ;  the  learned  men 
around  him,  53  ;  his  commission 


to  Poggio,  55  ;  his  political  v. 
his  Humanistic  planes  of  action, 
59  ;  exiled,  66  ;  his  journey  to 
Venice  a  triumphal  progress,  66  ; 
Cosimo  recalled  from  exile,  73  ; 
his  policy  after  his  exile,  76 ; 
his  machinery  of  government, 
77  ;  a  keen  observer,  78  ;  his 
ideas  of  the  scope  of  the  Renais- 
sance, 78  ;  forms  a  compact  with 
Eugenius  iv.,  82  ;  acts  as  host 
for  all  Florence  during  the 
Council.  84  ;  assists  Niccoli,  88  ; 
his  circle  of  Humanist  friends, 
93-102  ;  final  years  of  work  and 
their  characteristics,  107  ;  founds 
Platonic  Academy,  109  ;  educates 
Ficino,  110  ;  death  of  his  son 
Giovanni,  112;  his  last  years, 
113  ;  criticism  of  his  work,  117- 
122. 

Medici,  Giovanni :  founder  of 
family's  greatness,  2,  10,  22  ;  a 
man  of  business  pure  and  simple, 
23,  24 ;  nearly  ruined  by  the 
Albizzi,  24  ;  his  subtle  policy  of 
self-effacement,  25  ;  the  Albizzi 
cease  their  enmity,  25  ;  his  mind 
rather  medieval  than  Renais- 
sance in  type,  26  ;  his  death  and 
charge  to  his  sons,  28  ;  policy  of 
the  Medici  and  Albizzi  con- 
trasted, 30  ;  the  virtue  of 
patience,  31 ;  Opportunism,  ibid. ; 
care  for  the  education  of  his 
sons,  35  ;  his  last  appearance  to 
champion  the  people,  58. 

Medici,  Giovanni  de'  (il.):  one  of 
the  greatest  of  the  Medici,  112  ; 
his  influence  on  Lorenzo,  ibid.; 
death,  ibid. 

Medici,  Giuliano  de',  146. 

Medici,  Giuliano  de',  202. 

Medici,  Giulio  (Clement  vn.):  his 
policy  in  line  with  that  of  his 
predecessors,  32,  33  ;  too  feeble 
adequately  to  hold  in  check  the 
political  forces,  33  ;  accompanies 
his  cousin  Giovanni  on  a  tour 


282 


INDEX 


through  Europe,  213  ;  the  horror 
excited  among  the  pleasure- 
loving  Romans  by  the  rule  of 
Adrian  vi.  led  to  another  Medici 
being  elected  Pope,  265  ;  Clem- 
ent a  true  Humanist  and  a  true 
Medicean,  266,  267  ;  his  life  and 
habits,  ibid. ;  his  character,  268  ; 
his  vacillation,  270 ;  sack  of 
Rome,  270,  271  ;  conclusion, 
273. 

Medici,  Leo  x.,  Giovanni  cle':  early 
reference,  3,  41  ;  the  ablest  of 
the  Magnifico's  three  sons,  203  ; 
trained  by  Poliziano,  Ficino,  and 
Landino,  204 ;  raised  to  the 
Sacred  College,  ibid. ;  his  rela- 
tions more  with  Roman  than 
Florentine  Humanists,  212  ; 
travels  throughout  Europe,  213  ; 
patronises  Renaissance  studies  in 
Rome,  215  ;  much  trusted  by 
Julius  II.,  217  ;  taken  prisoner 
at  the  battle  of  Ravenna,  219  ; 
escapes,  ibid. ;  reverted  to  the 
old  regime  of  Cosimo  and 
Lorenzo,  221  ;  elevated  to  the 
Papacy,  222  ;  satisfaction  at  his 
election,  223  ;  his  election  due  to 
his  being  the  son  of  Magnifico, 
224 ;  the  character  of  Leo's 
pontificate  shown  by  his  remark, 
"Let  us  enjoy  the  Papacy,"  224  ; 
Leo  and  the  Reformation,  225- 
227  ;  his  influence  on  learning, 
229  ;  lacking  in  political  ability, 
231 ;  his  interest  in  the  Sapienza, 
237  ;  his  circle  of  friends  and 
beneficiaries  among  Humanists, 
237-244  ;  his  patronage  of  philo- 
sophy, 249  ;  of  science,  250- 
253  ;  of  art,  258  ;  estimate  of  his 
personal  influence,  260. 

Medici,  Lorenzo,  II  Magnifico:  early 
references,  3,  10,  11  ;  the  perfect 
flower  of  Medicean  'culture,  41; 
his  friendship  with  Ficino,  111; 
his  many-sidedness,  132  ;  early 
years,  133-140  ;  a  hard  student, 


134  ;  the  political  game  he  had 
to  play  as  keeper  of  the  peace  of 
Italy,  140  ;  his  services  to  learn- 
ing, 143  ;  his  quarrel  with 
Sixtus  iv.,  145-152  ;  his  encour- 
agement of  printing,  152,  164, 
181;  his  interest  in  Italian  liter- 
ature, 154,  173  ;  his  policy 
during  the  Ferrarese  War,  161  ; 
his  dread  of  France  and  Spain, 
164  ;  death  of  his  wife,  167  ; 
his  son  Giovanni  made  a 
Cardinal,  168  ;  death  of  the 
Magnifico,  169  ;  influence  on  the 
Renaissance,  170-186  ;  on  art, 
187  ct  scq. ;  comparison  between 
him  and  Poliziano,  177  ;  special- 
ism in  study,  179  ;  interest  in 
architecture,  189  ;  in  music, 
190  ;  his  letter  to  his  son 
Giovanni,  206. 

Medici,  Piero  de'  (Primus)  :  his 
place  in  the  Renaissance  succes- 
sion, 123  ;  hindered  by  feeble 
health,  123  ;  the  Pitti  plot,  125- 
127  ;  his  patronage  of  Human- 
ists, 128  ;  and  of  printing,  130  ; 
Piero  (Secundus),  189,  200. 

Medici,  the  :  early  policy,  10,  11, 
12,  13,  18  ;  strange  that  Medici 
should  have  been  selected  to 
foster  the  Renaissance,  19  ;  not 
a  noble  family  by  origin,  ibid. ; 
the  Ciompi  tumults,  21  ;  Sal- 
vestro  de'  Medici,  21,  22  ;  Veri 
de'  Medici,  22  ;  one  of  the  great 
democratic  families,  24  ;  in  their 
duel  with  Albizzi  time  on  their 
side,  26  ;  the  Medici  policy  laid 
down  the  rule  that  the  family 
must  remain  burghers,  30  ;  be- 
came Grand  Dukes  of  Tuscany 
only  when  France  and  Spain 
intervened,  ibid. ;  their  subtle 
power  of  sympathy  the  greatest 
glory  of  the  family,  91 ;  its  glory 
passed  away  with  Lorenzo,  206  ; 
their  banishment  from  Florence, 
211  ;  allied  with  Cardinal  Rovere 


INDEX 


283 


against  Alexander  vi.,  213;  the 
Florentines  longed  for  the  pacific 
rule  of  the  Medici,  221  ;  the 
character  of  Leo's  political 
policy  was  undiluted  selfishness, 
232  ;  the  diverse  pictures  of  the 
Medici  in  the  pages  of  Nerli  and 
Nardi,  254. 

Merula,  Georgio,  153,  175. 

Meyers,  the,  230. 

Michelozzi,  118. 

Milan,  8,  23,  63,  64,  74,  77,  97, 
137,  143,  151,  159,  163,  213. 

Mirandola,    Pico  della,   168,    183, 
(life)  196,  212. 

Modena,  73. 

Mohammed  u.,  8,  151. 

Molza,  Francesco,  234,  247. 

"  Mona    Lisa,"    Da    Vinci's    un- 
finished painting  of,  9. 

Monte  Commune,  30,  63. 

Montefeltro,     Duke     Federigo    of, 
106,  133,   159. 

Montepulciano,    Bartolommeo    di, 
47. 

Mozzarello,  Giovanni,  244. 

More/ante  Maygiore,  II,  124. 

Music,  Renaissance,  121,  189. 

Musurus,  Marcus,  237,  267. 

Mysticism,  Alexandrian,  85,  109. 

NAPLES,  6,  8,  23,  34,  57,  97,  133, 

143,  150,  159,  162. 
Nardi,  Jacopo,  254. 
Navagero,  Andrea,  243. 
Neo-Platonism,  84,  173. 
Neri,  the,  10. 
Nerli,  Filippo,  254. 
Neroni,  Diotisalvi,  77,  123. 
New  learning,   3,   10,  35,   42,   43 

56,  81. 

New  Testament,  98. 
New  world,  3,  4. 
Niccoli,  Niccolo  de',  7,  37,  38,  40, 

53,  56,  71,  87,  (life)  87-89,  92, 

96 

Nicholas  of  Breslau,  152. 
Nicholas  of  Treves,  47. 
Nicopolis,  37. 


Nighi,  the,  23. 

Nippur,  37. 

Nonius  Marcellus,  55. 

OBRECHT  (musician),  190. 

Ockenheim  of  Hainault,  121. 

Ockham,  William  of,  174. 

Opportunism,  policy  of,  31,  175. 

Orcagna,  104,  105. 

Orleans,  Duke  of,  161. 

Orsini,     Clarice    (Lorenzo's    wife) 

167,  203. 
Otranto,  151,  158. 
Ottavio,  Francesco,  129. 
Ottimati,  the,  80. 
Ovid,  153. 

PADUA,  73. 

Palazzo  Medici,  50,  84,  120. 

Palazzo  Vecchio,  104. 

Paleologus,  Demetrius,  82. 

Paleologus,  John,  Byzantine  Em- 
peror, 37,  69,  82. 

Pallone,  134. 

Papacy,  the,  34. 

Parentucelli,  Thomas  of  Sarzana 
(afterwards  Pope  Nicholas  v.), 
52,  86,  88,  (life)  99-102,  114, 
133,  223. 

Patriarch  Joseph,  the,  82. 

Paul  n. ,  Pope.    See  Cardinal  Barbi. 

Pazzi,  conspiracy  of,  102. 

People's  party,  a,  26. 

Pericles,  158. 

Perotti,  Niccolo,  101,  115. 

Persius,  14. 

Peter,  St.,  229. 

Peter  the  Hermit,  49. 

"Peter's  pence,"  230. 

Petrarch,  6,  17,  39,  45,  104. 

Pfefferkorn,  43. 

Phidias,  104. 

Piazza,  the,  65. 

Piccinino,  Giacomo,  82,  151. 

Pilatus,  Leontius,  7. 

Pindar,  17. 

Pirckheimer,  Willibald,  227. 

Pisa,  Academy  of,  178. 

Pisano,  Niccolo  and  Andrea,  104. 


284 


INDEX 


Pistoia,  104. 

Pitti,  the,  77,  123. 

Platina,  141. 

Plato,  17,  33,  101,  108,  110,  128, 

133,  158,  174,  237,  266. 
Platonic  Academy,  the,  107. 
Platonic  philosophy,    16,    84,    85, 

108,  111,  249. 
Plautus,  153,  266. 
Plebs,  the  Roman,  5. 
Pletho,  Gemisthus,  8,  14,  46,  84, 

85. 

Pliny,  266. 
Plotinus,  111. 
Plutarch,  71. 
Poggio,  Bracciolini,  7,  35,  38,  47, 

53,  54,  72,  85,  (life)  114,  116. 
Poliziauo,  9,  33,  41,  76,  127,  141, 

153,   155,    168,    177,    (life)   193, 

203,  212. 

Pollajuolo,  Antonio,  187. 
Polybius,  101. 
Polytheism,  172. 
Pomponazzo,  Pietro,  249. 
Pontanus,  Jovi.mus,  91,  141,  235, 

251. 

Porcello,  141. 
Praxiteles,  104. 
Prierias,  Sylvester,  229. 
Printing,  invention  of,  4,  130. 
Probus,  55. 
Propertius,  153. 
Pucci,  the,  77. 
Pulci,  Luigi,  124,  141,  199. 
Pythagorean  philosophy,  85. 

Q0IXTILIAX,  47,  55. 

RAPHAEL,  258,  259. 

Ravenna,  battle  of,  219. 

Ravenna,  Giovanni  da,  39,  52. 

Reformation,  the,  4,  19,  143,  225, 
230. 

Renaissance,  the,  not  an  exhausted 
influence,  1  ;  how  much  it  owed 
to  Italy  and  the  Florentine 
Medici,  2  ;  what  it  might  have 
become  but  for  the  Medici,  3  ; 
what  it  meant,  3 ;  what  it 


achieved,  4 ;  when  first  it  be- 
came an  influencing  factor  in  the 
development  of  the  world,  5 ; 
what  Florence  was  to  it — the 
mainspring,  10  ;  the  nurse,  13  ; 
the  forces  at  work  as  old  as  the 
world,  14  ;  difference  of  Hellenic 
and  Hebrew  ideals,  15  ;  the 
former  moulded  the  European 
spirit,  16 ;  not  a  provincial 
but  a  European  movement,  32  ; 
frame  of  mind  of  the  early  Re- 
naissance students  of  antiquity, 
36  ;  how  Hellenic  culture  was 
introduced  into  Florence,  38 ; 
marked  progress  during  early 
decades  of  fifteenth  century,  45  ; 
public  libraries  mooted,  52  ; 
Poggio's  great  discovery  at  St. 
Gall,  55  ;  the  unrest  in  Europe, 
57  ;  Humanists  warmly  supported 
Cosimo,  67  ;  Cosimo  realised  the 
Renaissance  was  not  a  fleeting 
fashion,  78  ;  how  the  union  of 
the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches 
affected  the  Renaissance,  82  ; 
Gemisthus  Pletho  the  Platonist, 

85  ;    the   Florentine    Humanists 
nearly  all  of  the  Medicean  party, 

86  ;  Niccoli's  services  to  the  Re- 
naissance,   90 ;    a   correct  Latin 
style  indispensable  for  State   or 
Papal   Secretaries,    93  ;    the  Re- 
naissance sympathies  of  Nicholas 
v.,  101  ;  Platonism  and  the  Re- 
naissance, 108 ;  Renaissance  spirit 
in  letters,   116  ;  in  architecture, 
117  ;    in    decoration,     119  ;     in 
tapestry,    ibid. ;    Piero's    policy, 
125-130;  Lorenzo's  love   of  Re- 
naissance learning  was  a  passion, 
134 ;    progress   during   the   first 
decade   of   Lorenzo's  rule,    152 ; 
during  the  second,  166  ;  general 
estimate   of  its  progress  during 
his  life,  in  letters,  178-186  ;  in 
art,  186  ct  scq.;  in  music,    190; 
Cardinal  Medici's  attitude  to  the 
Renaissance,  211  ;  Germany  now 


INDEX 


285 


coming  to  the  front  as  a  home  for 
culture,  214  ;  Renaissance  studies 
revived  in  Florence  after  the  re- 
turn of  the  Medici,  222  ;  the 


Samminists,  the  church  of,  104. 
San  Lorenzo,  church  of,  118. 
Sail  Marco,  library  of,  89,  92. 
San  Spirito,  monastery  of,  39,  118. 


pontificate   of  Leo   x.    the  mid- 1  Sannazaro,  141,  234,  235,  241. 
summer  meridian  of  Renaissance  Sapienza,  the  Roman,  236. 
culture,  224  ;  difference  between  Sarto,  Andrea  del,  259. 
Italian  and  German  Humanism,  i  Satire,  Jocose,  248. 
227-229  ;  the  Renaissance  of  the  j  Savonarola,  169. 


Reformation,  230  ;  Leo's  patron- 
age of  letters,  235-248  ;  his  in- 
fluence upon  philosophy  and 
science,  249-260  ;  the  sun  of  the 
Renaissance  nearing  its  setting, 
261  ;  Clement  vn.  and  the  Re- 
naissance, 269-274. 

Republics,  the  Italian,  37. 

Revival  of  letters,  3. 

Revolution,  the  French,  18. 

Reuchlin,  43,  166,  181,  214,  227, 
229. 

Riarios,  the  (Pietro  and  Girolamo), 
145,  158,  160. 

Ricci,  the,  23,  24. 

Richelieu,  Cardinal,  139,  143. 

Rimini,  Andrea  de',  116. 

Robbia.     See  Delia  Robbia. 

Rome,  Church  of,  229,  272. 

Rome,  city  of,  6,  8,  34,  58,  74,  97, 
114,  231,  234. 

Roscoe,  W.,  11,  18,  19. 

Rossellino,  188. 

Rossetti,  Christina,  36. 

Rossi,  Roberto  de,  38. 

Rovere,  Cardinal  Francesco  (Sixtus 
iv.),  144,  145,  233,  266. 

Rovere,  Cardinal  Giuliano  della 
(Julius  n.),  160,  213,  216. 

Rubianus,  Crotus,  227,  229. 

Rucellai,  Bernardo,  247. 

Rufus,  Mutianus,  227,  229. 

SABELLICUS,  141. 

Sacchi,  Bartolommeo,  141. 

Sadoleto,    Jacopo,    156,    180,    215, 

224,  240. 
Salutato,  Coluccio,  37,  38,  40,  44, 

54,  85,  93,  114. 
Salviate,  Francesco,  146. 


Scali,  the,  24,  113,  175,  180,  198. 
Scaligers,  the,  183. 
Scarperia,  Giacomo,  38,  40,  46. 
Schleiermacher,  172. 
Scholasticism,  4,  5,  8,  16,  43,  84 

111,  134. 

Scotus,  Duns,  174. 
Seneca,  39. 

Sforza,  Francesco,  57,  75,  137. 
Sforza,  Lodovico,  148. 
Sforziad,  the,  75. 
Ship  of  Fools,  228. 
Siculus,  Diodorus,  101. 
Sidney,  Sir  Philip,  241. 
Sigismund,    the  Emperor,   37,   64, 

69. 

Signorelli,  Luca,  188. 
Signory,  the  Florentine,  61. 
Silkworms,  rearing  of,  189. 
Silvestri,  Postumo,  244. 
Sismondi,  19. 

Sixtus  iv.     See  Cardinal  Rovere. 
Socrates,  5,  16,  172. 
Soderini,  Pietro,  221. 
Soderini,  Tommaso,  137,  138. 
Soncini  of  Fano,  the,  153. 
Sophists,  the,  5. 
Sophocles,  158. 
Spain,  164,  231. 

Specialism,  encouragement  of,  179. 
Squarcialupi,    Antonio    (organist), 

190. 

Stephani  of  Paris,  153. 
Strabo,  101. 
Strozzi,  Palla  degli,  7,  11,  27,  37, 

38,  51,  52,  53,  64,  67,  80,  129. 
Style,  Latin,  93. 
Subiaco,  130. 
Sully,  Due  de,  139. 
Swift,  Jonathan,  185. 


286 


INDEX 


Switzerland,  103. 

Symonds,  J.  A.  (on  Renaissance), 
4,  48,  66,  84,  106,  109,  184,  215. 
Syria,  49. 

TAMERLANE,  38. 

Tapestry  weaving,  119,  189. 

Tebaldo,  Antonio,  245. 

Terence,  71. 

Tertullian,  47,  55. 

Theodore  of  Gaza,  156. 

Thirlwall,  Bishop,  172. 

Thncydides,  71,  101. 

Tiber,  the,  6. 

"TitoMelema,"  48. 

Tornabuoni,    Lucrezia,    124,    127, 

133,  180. 
Tortosa,     Cardinal    (Adrian    vi.), 

264. 

Toscauelli,  Paolo,  250. 
Trapezuntios,  Giorgios,  8,  46,  101. 
Traversari,  Ambrogio,  7,  33,  38,  42, 

53,  56,  71,  74,  81,  85,  (life)  95, 

113. 

Trissino,  237,  247. 
Tuugerns,  the,  230. 
Turini,  Baldassare,  258. 
Turks,  the,  58,  80,  152,  158. 
Tuscany,  9,  103,  104. 
Tuscany,  Grand  Dukes  of,  30. 

UCCELLO,  Paolo,  119,  120. 
Uffizzi  Gallery,  134. 
Ulenspiegel,  228. 
Ulysses,  34. 


Union    of    Eastern    and    Western 

Churches,  8,  80,  83. 
Uzzano,  Niccolo  de',  63. 

VALKRIANUS,  237,  239,  254. 

Valla,  Laurentius,  101,  115,  173. 

Valori,  the,  23. 

Varino,  237. 

Vasari,  Giorgio,  134. 

Vatican  library,  254. 

Vegetius,  47. 

Venice,  8,  34,  51,  64,  65,  73,  77, 

97,  139,  146,  160,  191,  213. 
Vergerio,  Pier  Paolo,  39. 
Verona,  Guarino  da.     Sec  Guarino. 
Verrocchio,  188. 
Vespasiano,  39. 
Vicenza,  Ognibene  da,  39. 
Vida  Marco,  179,  241,  267. 
Villas,  Lorenzo's,  167. 
Vinci,  Lionardo  da,  9,  105,  188. 
Virgil,  14,  39,  71,  193. 
Visconti  of  Milan,  the,  57,  58,  75, 

81. 

Vitelleschi,  Cardinal,  79,  82. 
Vitruvius,  55,  268. 
Vittorino  da  Feltre,  7,  39. 
Volterra,  143. 

WELTSCHMERZ,  170. 
'  Wolsey,  Cardiiml,  143. 
Wordsworth,  18,  176. 

XENOPHOX,  71,  101. 
Xenophanes  of  Colophon,  172. 


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ing how  ROGER  BACON  prepared  the  way  for  FRANCIS  BACON, 
LORD  VERULAM.    By  Rev.  W.  J.  COUPER,  M.A. 

XIV.  SAVONAROLA.     By  Rev.  G.  M'HARDY,  D.D.  [Now  ready 

XV.  LUTHER    AND    THE    GERMAN    REFORMATION.     By   Rev. 
Professor  T.  M.  LINDSAY,  D.D.,  U.F.C.  College,  Glasgow. 

[Noio  ready. 

XVI.  CRANMER  AND  THE  ENGLISH  REFORMATION.     By  A.  D. 

INNES,  M.A.(Oxon.),  London.  [Now  ready. 

XVII.  CALVIN    AND    THE     REFORMED    THEOLOGY.      By    Rev. 
Principal  SALMOND,  D.D.,  U.F.C.  College,  Aberdeen. 

XVIII.  PASCAL  AND  THE  PORT  ROYALISTS.  By  Professor  W. 
CLARK,  LL.D.,  D.C.L.,  Trinity  College,  Toronto.  [Shortly. 

XIX.  DESCARTES,    SPINOZA,    AND    THE    NEW    PHILOSOPHY. 
By  Rev.  Professor  J.  IVERACH,  D.D.,  U.F.C.  College,  Aberdeen. 

XX.  WILLIAM  HERSCHEL  AND  HIS  WORK.      By  JAMES  SIME, 
M.  A. ,  F.  R.  S.  E.  [Now  ready. 

XXI.  WESLEY  AND  METHODISM.    By  F.  J.  SNELL,  M.A.(Oxon.). 

[Now  ready. 

XXII.  LESSING  AND  THE  NEW  HUMANISM.  Including  Baumgarten 
and  the  Science  of  ^Esthetics.  By  Rev.  A.  P.  DAVIDSON,  M.A. 

XXIII.  HUME    AND    HIS    INFLUENCE    ON    PHILOSOPHY    AND 

THEOLOGY.     By  Professor  J.  ORR,  D.D.,  Glasgow. 

XXIV.  ROUSSEAU  AND  NATURALISM  IN  LIFE  AND  THOUGHT. 

By  Professor  W.  H.  HUDSON,  M.A.,  Leland  Stanford  Junior 
University,  California. 

XXV.  KANT  AND  HIS  PHILOSOPHICAL  REVOLUTION.  By  Pro- 
fessor R.  M.  WENLEY,  D.Sc.,  Ph.D.,  University  of  Michigan. 

XXVI.  SCHLEIERMACHER  AND  THE  REJUVENESCENCE  OF 
THEOLOGY.  By  Professor  A.  MARTIN,  D.D.,  New  College, 
Edinburgh.  [Shortly. 

XXVII.  HEGEL  AND  HEGELIANISM.     By  Professor  R.  MACKINTOSH, 
D.D.,  Lancashire  Independent  College,  Manchester. 

XXVIII.  NEWMAN    AND    HIS    INFLUENCE.     By  C.  SAROLEA,  Ph.D., 
Litt.  Doc.,  University  of  Edinburgh. 


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